Chelsea target Marquinhos advised to leave PSG by Alex

Paris Saint Germain defender Marquinhos has been urged to leave the club in the search of regular first team football. The Brazilian, who was linked with a move to Chelsea during the summer transfer window, has started PSG's last two games but only in the absence of David Luiz.

Captain Thiago Silva and Luiz represent the competition for Marquinhos and with opportunities behind the Brazil international duo few and far between, he is beginning to become a peripheral figure in the French capital. The 21-year-old has started half of the Ligue 1 champions' league games this term but Alex has advised the player to move on.

"Marquinhos would fit in at any big European club, his problem is that two of the best players in the world in his position are ahead of him," Alex told L'Equipe, according to ESPN. "If I was in his place I would leave PSG – especially when all the big clubs want him. During every transfer window, he gets magnificent offers. He's young and should be playing to show his worth."

Sky Sports understood that Chelsea showed late interest in signing Marquinhos on deadline day in the summer transfer window, with two bids between £25.7m ($39m) and £40.4m, as they attempted to add to the centre of the defence. Those reports followed a summer-long pursuit of Everton and England centre-back John Stones.

Despite overtures from Chelsea and his influence at PSG decreasing, Marquinhos indicated at the end of last season that he was content on playing second fiddle to Silva and Luiz. He made only 21 league starts last season for the double winners but suggested that there is enough to keep him interested at the club.

"The project is magnificent, and I'm really very happy to be part of it," Marquinhos said last April, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News. "The club is very ambitious. I hope to stay in Paris a long time to experience a lot of great things.

"Competition for places exists in every club in the world. I prefer to play in the middle, as a centre-back. But I am available if I'm needed, on the right or in midfield. The season is very long with a lot of matches and the coach needs everyone. Since I arrived in Paris, I have had the ambition of improving in every game and training session."

As interest in Marquinhos petered out, Chelsea did sign two defenders on deadline day in the form of Papy Djilobodji from Nantes and Reading defender Michael Hector. Blues manager Jose Mourinho has also hinted at an overhaul of his defence after dropping captain John Terry for the recent visit of Arsenal.