Why £80m rated talented defender wants to join Chelsea as Blues close to secure deal
Matthijs de Ligt, a defender for Juventus, has been strongly reported to be interested in moving to Chelsea.
Chelsea are looking to add at least two center backs this summer, and the Blues have been linked with Sevilla’s Jules Kounde, Kalidou Koulibaly of Napoli, Nathan Ake of Manchester City, and Matthijs de Ligt of Juventus.
Gianluca Di Marzio, an Italian journalist, has verified Chelsea’s interest in De Ligt.
Despite De Ligt’s £102 million release clause, Juventus reportedly values the center-back at roughly £80 million.
The 22-year-old is reportedly eager to join Chelsea, and Thomas Tuchel is reportedly pressing for this move.
According to the Italian publication Corriere dello Sport, De Ligt rejected Juventus’ offer to extend his contract.
However, why is De Ligt so keen in joining Chelsea?
According to reports from Italy, De Ligt was impressed by Thomas Tuchel’s managing skills.
De Ligt is rumored to be eager to work with Tuchel after witnessing how the German coach helped Chelsea players like Antonio Rudiger succeed.
Despite De Ligt’s intention to join Chelsea, Juventus CEO Maurizio Arrivabene has insisted that it would be hard to keep a player who wants to leave.
He said: ‘It’s impossible to keep players when they want to leave the club – but all the three parties in the negotiations have to be satisfied.’
A cash plus player swap deal has been mooted, and Gianluca Di Marzio, has claimed that the Blues had offered Juventus around £25m plus Timo Werner for the Netherlands international – a proposal the Serie A side dismissed immediately.