Juventus expect Chelsea to improve their bid for centre-back Matthijs de Ligt, whom Thomas Tuchel considers as his first-choice centre-back target, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
The Italian outlet claims that Tuchel sees the 22-year-old defender as a priority target this summer, ahead of Manchester City’s Nathan Ake, Sevilla’s Jules Kounde, and Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly.
If it were up to the manager, De Ligt would be Chelsea’s first signing this summer, the report adds.
De Ligt himself has reportedly expressed his desire to leave the club this summer and is said to be open to joining Chelsea.
The Netherlands international is still under contract until 2024, but from Juventus’ point of view, selling the player this summer before his contract reaches its final year would arguably be the best option.
The Italian club reportedly prefers a cash-only deal rather than a player-plus-cash type of deal Chelsea initially proposed.
The final figure is expected to be between €80million (close to £69m) and £90m (£77.5m), which to be fair, is just slightly above the €75m (£67.5m) Juventus paid Ajax in 2019 (per Sky Sports).
CBS Sports’ Ben Jacobs, however, claims that Chelsea are still hoping to strike a deal in the region of £60m to £65m.
The 2018 Golden Boy winner mostly played in a back four at Juventus, but usually operated on the left in a three-man defence.
Being a ball-playing defender, De Ligt is also strong in the air, winning over 64% of his total aerial duels in Serie A last term.
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