Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt has revealed he’s interested in signing for English Premier League club Chelsea this summer.
Chelsea are believed to be pushing for the center-back signature as the club is already holding talks with Juventus over a possible £65million move.
The Blues are currently in search of a defender after they lost Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen on free transfers to Spanish clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively.
Their current captain and right-back Cesar Azpilicueta is also expected to join Barcelona this summer. Thomas Tuchel has made rebuilding his defense area a top priority this summer as they have reached out to some defenders including Matthijs de Ligt.
Chelsea hopes to close the deal for about £65 million after making a number of offers that got rejected by Juventus. But Juventus are searching to get more money out of the transfer and wants to raise the price even more.
Chelsea making progress on Matthijs de Ligt. Juve prefer straight-cash deal. They remain interested in Jorginho but he’s not currently part of any bid being prepared. #CFC pushing on de Ligt after Juve softened a bit on price. Clubs still apart on all-in price so add ons key.
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) July 3, 2022
The English Premier League clubs have offered two of their strikers Timo Werner and Christian Pulisic, as makeweights in possible player-plus-cash transfers, but Pulisic wants to stay and compete for a spot.
Werner is still being considered, but the Serie A team wants a player who can play behind the striker, cut in from the wing, and create opportunities like Paulo Dybala, who departed the Allianz Stadium this summer when his contract expired. Chelsea’s main midfielder Jorginho is also a target for Juventus but his deal will be discussed differently.
Although De Ligt is desired by Premier League champion Manchester City and German champion Bayern Munich, the Dutch defender prefers the idea of joining Stamford Bridge.
Nathan Ake of Man City or Jules Kounde of Sevilla are the two defenders that Tuchel wants to sign, but Ake is an important player for Pep Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium and Manchester City would need to find a replacement before selling him.
Juventus is interested in players like Torino’s Gleison Bremer or Kalidou Koulibaly of Napoli, and they are likely the players that will replace Matthijs de Ligt. Chelsea are also interested in signing Koulibaly but the deal for Matthijs de Ligt is becoming more progressive than others.
The Blues have also reached an agreement to sign Manchester City player Raheem Sterling as they search for a replacement for Romelu Lukaku who joined Inter Milan on a loan deal last week. Robert Lewandowski is another striker in their books but the Poland captain is interested in a move to Barcelona.
