Chelsea submit £69m offer for Juventus defender Matthijs De Ligt. (Photo by Paolo Bruno/Getty Images)
Chelsea’s interest in Juventus centre-back Matthijs de Ligt is slowly turning to intent, as the centre-back grows increasingly unsettled in Turin. The Blues need to invest in at least two defenders this summer, with one of those names expected to be long-term target Jules Kounde.
De Ligt now appears to be Chelsea’s preferred choice besides the Sevilla centre-back to fill the double void left behind by the departures of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen. Reports in recent days have suggested that the Dutchman and Juventus remain far apart in their negotiations for a new contract.
Chelsea are now prepared to test the waters, despite De Ligt’s current deal having two years to run and a gigantic €120 million release clause. According to transfer expert Gianluca di Marzio (h/t football.london), the Blues are prepared to offer underperforming star Timo Werner plus cash for the Juve star.
A deal, however, is not going to be straightforward. Chelsea would prefer a deal in the region of €25-30 million plus Werner, but it’s not going to be enough. The Boehly-Clearlake administration is expected to arrive with an improved offer of €40-45m plus Werner, but Juve are likely to ask for more.
The Serie A giants have apparently asked for De Ligt’s release clause to be paid in full, but Chelsea clearly have no intentions of reaching that deep into their pockets for one player. A compromise needs to be reached and it seems possible.
De Ligt is keen on a move to Chelsea, and Juve like Werner’s profile. The German is seen as a player similar to Alvaro Morata, who the Old Lady needs to replace following the expiration of his two-year loan deal.
Desperate times call for desperate measures but Chelsea aren’t really in that situation yet, despite growing impatience and frustration amongst supporters relating to transfer inactivity.
The truth is that there’s a lot of movement happening behind the scenes and there’s still a long stretch of the transfer window remaining. The Blues have no reason to rush a deal just for the sake of getting it done.
The Romelu Lukaku transfer, albeit botched, serves to teach a very important lesson – if you have even the slightest doubt, don’t spend. Chelsea spent the majority of last summer trying to convince Dortmund into selling Erling Haaland and when that didn’t happen, the club went all out for Plan B, which happened to be Lukaku.
Let’s keep one thing in mind – despite De Ligt’s tremendous defensive acumen and experience, he has struggled throughout his spell in Italy and is yet to justify why Juventus made him the costliest defender in the history of Italian football. His performances since moving from Ajax don’t add up to justify a club paying €120million for him.
He is only 22 years old and has so much top-flight experience under his belt already. It is easy to see the value he can provide. Although, offering Werner in return is significant enough in itself, offering a substantial fee in the region of €40-45 million on top of that seems like overkill.
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