Chelsea have been served a major blow to their efforts in signing Matthijs de Ligt, with Bayern Munich plotting a late swoop for the Juventus defender. The 22-year-old has been heavily linked with a move to Stamford Bridge and, while there is still progress to be made by all parties, a departure from Turin looks imminent.
According to SPORT1, the Netherlands international has verbally agreed to join the Bundesliga champions and negotiations between the two clubs will begin shortly. The report adds that a deal between Juventus and Bayern will only fall through if a fee can not be agreed, with personal terms not believed to be an issue.
However, while the German giants may have been granted a verbal blessing, Chelsea are edging closer to reaching an agreement with the Old Lady for De Ligt's signature, claims CBS journalist Ben Jacobs. And, the west Londoners are said to be pushing to complete the signing, with Juventus slowly relaxing their asking price.
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Jacobs adds that the Blues are hoping to pay between £60million and £65million for the Dutchman, but Massimiliano Allegri's side are steering Todd Boehly towards £70million - and, potentially, £75million dependant on interest from elsewhere. However, conflicting reports have claimed that the defender, who currently sees his deal with the Turin-based side expire in 2024, entered talks with the Juventus over a new deal this summer.
And, while it may come as an initial blow to Chelsea, Fabrizio Romano clarified that should De Ligt pen a new contract, the current €120million (£103m) release clause would be lowered - although it does currently look unlikely with the defender supposedly close to a departure for a good fraction of the fee.
In January, Chelsea were 'willing to go crazy' in their efforts to sign the Dutchman, according to Italian newspaper La Repubblica. But, not known by Tuchel at the time, Rudiger and Andreas Christensen sought futures away from west London.
Chelsea then followed up their interest a month later with the hope of laying the groundwork for a transfer in the summer, but Tuchel's mission to bolster his defence was quickly stopped in its tracks following the UK Government's decision to sanction Roman Abramovich.
The licence issued to Chelsea by the government allowed the club to keep playing. It also meant that the Blues could not sign or sell players, or enter into contract talks with existing players on their books, which meant the west Londoner's pursuit of the defender came to a halt.
Now, the consortium led by Boehly, who agreed a £4.25billion deal to buy the west London club, are expected to 'push for A-list signings' to mark a new era at Stamford Bridge, according to the MailOnline. And, De Ligt certainly constitutes an 'A-list' arrival.
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