With Chelsea losing both Antonio Rüdiger and Andreas Christensen this summer on free transfers to Real Madrid and (likely) Barcelona respectively, the Blues need to bring in replacements.
Many names have surfaced, some familiar and some less so, but the two main ones have been Jules Koundé and Matthijs De Ligt.
The Frenchman has been the favourite to land a role at Stamford Bridge, since Chelsea already tried their luck last year, to no avail, but there could now be doubts about that deal, with the player needing surgery on his groin.
He should be ready to return for the start of the new campaign, but would then miss most of pre-season, which isn’t exactly what Thomas Tuchel will want.
Whether that costs him a transfer to Chelsea remains to be seen, but there is the more costly option of De Ligt the club could fall back on.
💥 OFICIAL | Jules Koundé va a pasar hoy por el quirófano para operar unas pequeñas molestias en el anillo inguinal izquierdo
✅ Si todo marcha conforme lo previsto, estará disponible para empezar la nueva temporada con el @SevillaFC
📻 #PartidazoCOPE pic.twitter.com/Fn1r2plD7h
— El Partidazo de COPE (@partidazocope) June 14, 2022
Looking at the player’s future at Juventus, Corriere dello Sport explain ‘the threat from the market is becoming more and more concrete and worrying’.
It’s said Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Barcelona all want the Dutchman, who is currently in a stalemate with his club over the renewal of a contract that expires in 2024.
The idea would be to renew that until 2026, but De Ligt wants to get rid of the current release clause of €125m, which is set to increase to €140m next year.
He wants that to go down to around €70-80m, thus facilitating a potential exit in the future, ‘but the discussion has also stalled on this point and is now struggling to take off’.
Therefore, De Ligt ‘could end up on the market immediately’ if he doesn’t agree to renew so that Juventus can maximise their income.
This is where the Premier League club would come in, as ‘leading the squad of suitors for the Dutchman is Chelsea’, who are ‘strengthened by the will of the new owner to conduct a high-profile transfer campaign and to adequately replace Rüdiger’.
With them, Real Madrid, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain on the case, it’s clear ‘the danger grows’ and Juventus ‘tremble’.
