Agent claims Chelsea failed with a bid for 26-year-old defensive star

Chelsea failed with a bid for Daniele Rugani, according to agent

Speaking to TMW Radio (h/t Mirror), Davide Torchia, the agent of Italian defender Daniele Rugani, has claimed that Chelsea failed with an offer to sign the centre-back in the past.

The 26-year-old has been with Juventus since 2015 but hasn’t been able to nail down a place in the starting XI in Turin. The Italian international joined French club Rennes on a season-long loan last month in search of regular game time.

And his agent has now claimed that Rugani came close to joining a number of bigwigs in Europe in the past, with Chelsea among them. However, the Blues’ offer for the centre-back was knocked back by Juventus. (h/t Mirror)

“At the time, Arsenal, Napoli, Chelsea, Zenit and Lyon arrived at around €30million (£27million) and [they] were never taken into consideration. For those prices, Juve did not sell him, and I do not dispute whether they did right or wrong.”

It is not quite clear as to the time period about which Torchia is speaking. However, it is no secret that former Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri came close to signing the Italian international back in 2018 soon after he arrived at the club. (h/t Mirror)

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Rugani had shown plenty of promise early in his career. However, injuries and a lack of game time has meant that his levels have somewhat dropped in recent times.

Currently, at Rennes on loan, the Italian defender could face Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League group stages later this month. He is a major doubt for Rennes’ visit to Stamford Bridge this week due to a thigh issue.