Juventus' central defender Matthijs De Ligt has given Chelsea a transfer boost with their 'sporting project' admission which will be music to the ears of new owner Todd Boehly.
Boehly and his consortium are in the early days of their tenure, but as with Roman Abramovich's start to life in SW6, the LA Dodgers co-owner is expected to announce his takeover with significant backing of first-team manager Thomas Tuchel this summer. In a transfer period which is expected to see a number of players leave, the new owners at Stamford Bridge have the task of trying to revamp a squad that will need major backing if the gap at the top of the Premier League between them and Manchester City and Liverpool is to be narrowed next season.
With Antonio Rudiger already gone and Andreas Christensen, Marcos Alonso and maybe even Cesar Azpilicueta expected to follow the German out of the exit door this summer, significant funding in the defensive areas remains the key priority. Jules Kounde could well sign this summer, although football.london understands that the Blues and Sevilla are not in official talks as of yet. But it is expected that another centre-half could also join the Frenchman in forming the new foundation of the Blues rearguard.
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Amid all the rumours to the likes of Kalidou Koulibaly, Josko Gvardiol and other defenders in European football, De Ligt's name has resurfaced once more, with Juventus reportedly considering offloading the Dutchmen for significant funds amid Premier League interest from the Blues and Manchester United.
A number of media outlets have reported that Boehly and his new board are interested in Juve's No. 4 who has two years remaining on his contract. It is understood that the defender is willing to sign a new contract but only if the £103million release clause was lowered, which would be handy for Chelsea in the long run.
Writing in his Caught Offside column on Monday, Romano reported: "Matthijs de Ligt's current release clause is valid for €120m, while his current contract expires in June 2024. Juventus are now negotiating with the Dutch defender to extend the contract until 2025 or 2026, but De Ligt has told the club that he will only sign a new agreement if the release clause is lowered.
"So far for Barcelona, who have financial problems, it is too expensive a deal for them to seriously consider at the moment. Chelsea have been monitoring De Ligt for months, but the priority at the moment is Jules Kounde."
In the short-term though, £103m will be required to sign the player this summer and De Ligt, who is currently on Nations League duty with the Netherlands, has hinted at his dissatisfaction with Juventus' 'sporting project' and ambitions which could allow the west Londoners some room to try and convince the 22-year-old that Boehly's new project is the right one for him going forward, with the Turin finishing in fourth place in Italy, 16 points behind Serie A champions AC Milan.
"There are ongoing conversations between me and Juventus,’ said De Ligt on Holland Duty via The Metro. "Right now I am focused on how I perform on the pitch, once the right moment arrives I will decide to extend or to look further
"I look at the sporting project. Ending fourth in a row for two years in a row is not good enough, Juventus knows this too. So being Juventus, we have to make steps. I’m a Juventus player so I’m focused on that."
Chelsea fans- would you pay £100million upwards for Matthijs De Ligt? If not, how much would you be willing to see be spent on Virgil Van Dijk's international partner? Leave your thoughts down below in the comments section!
