Chelsea FC offered chance to sign 22-year-old by Juventus – report
Juventus have presented Chelsea FC with the chance to sign Netherlands international Matthijs de Ligt, according to a report.
Website Goal, as quoted by Metro, is reporting that the Blues have been offered the opportunity to sign the 22-year-old by the Serie A giants as a potential solution to their centre-half dilemma.
The same article states that Thomas Tuchel is looking to sign a centre-half to bolster his options in defence after the south west London side failed to land Jules Kounde from Sevilla in the summer.
According to the same story, Chelsea FC refused to meet Sevilla’s £68.5m asking price for the France international to leave Tuchel short on quality options in central defence.
Goal write that Juventus are keen to offload De Ligt and the Dutch centre-half could provide the Premier League leaders with a solution in the January transfer window.
The website report claims that the Serie A giants want De Ligt’s £280,000-a-week salary off their wage bill as Juventus continue to navigate the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
De Ligt has a contract release clause of €150m (£126m) that will become active next summer, according to the story.
Juventus signed De Ligt in a £67.5m deal from Ajax in 2019 in a transfer that was regarded as something of a coup for the Serie A giants given his status as one of Europe’s most promising young defenders.
Meanwhile, defender Andreas Christensen has impressed in the Chelsea FC team since Tuchel took over the reins of the south west London side from his predecessor Frank Lampard earlier this year.
The Chelsea FC boss was quick to praise Christensen for his performances in the Blues team in the current campaign earlier this week.
“He’s a calm guy, very intelligent player, and sometimes you can get maybe a bit misled by judging him from his personality, because he is a hard defender and he is a guy who is not shy to have hard tackles and win challenges and step up in games,” Tuchel is quoted as saying by the Evening Standard.
“He found his place. He is very strong, very reliable and he has not reached his limits because at his age there is still room to improve.
“He can be a top defender for us in the next years and hopefully he will be because he comes from the academy.
“He knows what it takes and he has improved massively so far but it is not done yet – you have to show it over and over. There are big examples in this club of what it takes to be a legend in defence and there is still a way to go but we are very happy so far.”
Chelsea FC will travel to Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday.
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