Chelsea keen on Serie A star defender with £103m release clause

Transfer News: Chelsea are interested in signing Juventus star Matthis de Ligt

Chelsea are said to be interested in Dutch centre-back Matthijs de Ligt. The Juventus defender has two years left on his contract and the Serie A giants will only consider an amount close to his £103 million release clause, according to Sky Sports. The Blues have no intention of paying that amount.

Juventus signed De Ligt from Ajax for £67.8 million, making him Italian football’s most expensive defender. The 22-year-old’s impressive performances for the Dutch club prompted the Bianconeri to splash the cash on the then Ajax Amsterdam captain.

Since moving to Italy, the Dutchman has made 117 appearances for the Turin-based club. While he has shown moments of genuine quality, de Ligt has also in some ways failed to turn into the defensive colossus that he promised to be.

Chelsea in need of centre-backs

With the departures of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, Chelsea are left with only four possible centre-backs as of now for next season. Among them, our captain Cesar Azpilicueta is also potentially looking for a move away from Stamford Bridge.

Our other options include an aging Thiago Silva and inexperienced youngsters Trevoh Chalobah and Malang Sarr. Going into next season, it’s imperative that we sign at least two competent centre-backs who can slot right into the team from day one.

With our Premier League season starting on 6 August, there isn’t much time left and the Blues need to pull the trigger on a few of the signings being linked to the club.

Thomas Tuchel should ideally have these signings before pre-season begins, if not, it’ll be a race against the clock to fit them into the team and the German manager’s system before the start of the league campaign.

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The 22-year-old is the perfect fit for the team. Being Ajax’s youngest captain, the Dutch national’s leadership qualities are evident. And with key leaders in our dressing room leaving this summer, our interest in signing De Ligt is one fans will hope turns out to be concrete.

The Serie A defender will be able to man our defensive line for years to come if our interest turns to realisation. If there is even the slightest chance of Chelsea being able to sign the young centre-back, the club should pull out all stops to bring the Dutch national to West London.