Chelsea add 26million-rated Italian defensive wall to their transfer target list – report

Chelsea have added Daniele Rugani to their list of transfer targets ahead of the new season, even though they have not finalised Maurizio Sarri as their new manager.

The Mirror claims that the £26million-rated Juventus centre-back is a part of our transfer plans ahead of the new season. Our interest in the 23-year-old Italian is also being discussed between Juventus executives and those that represent the player.

Rugani played 22 games for the Italian champions last season as he scored two goals and provided a couple of assists as well.

The report goes on to say that the Italian actually came into the big leagues when he was on loan at Empoli under Sarri. In fact, Sarri even tried to sign Rugani for Napoli but the deal could not be pulled off.

Spending £26million on a young Italian defender is a pretty safe bet and with Rugani having played under Sarri, it means that the young defender would know what his manager might want from him.

While we have been linked with some older defenders such as Raul Albiol, this is one deal we should look to complete quickly as the youngster can only get better under the right manager. Gary Cahill and David Luiz are in their 30’s and we would need to bring in some young blood to build a defence for the future.

We already have Andreas Christensen as one young defender that has a bright future ahead of him and hopefully, we will be able to add Rugani to that list.