Towards the end of the transfer window, the European media made Chelsea look like a team scrambling for a defensive reinforcement following Napoli’s rejection of their bid for Kalidou Koulibaly before eventually ‘settling’ for David Luiz.
During that frantic period, one of their plan Bs was Lazio centre-back Stefan De Vrij, who missed the vast majority of last season following a knee operation undergone after just five games.
Currently on a contract running out in 2018, the player would be entering the final year of his deal next season, and it is for this reason the Serie A side are looking to hand him a new contract, and, according to Il Messaggero, want to get this done before 2017, having been in touch with his representatives for close to a year now.
While Chelsea are, of course, monitoring the situation, so are two other Premier League clubs: Manchester United and Manchester City.
The northern clubs are said to be keeping an eye on the contract negotiations between club and player, just in case he says no and asks to move to a more prestigious club.
José Mourinho and Pep Guardiola both spent over £30m reinforcing their backline, as Manchester United bought Eric Bailly from Villarreal, while their blue counterparts spent close to £50m on John Stones.
With Vincent Kompany continuously injured at Manchester City and Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo, well, being Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo over at Old Trafford, it might not be too much of a surprise that both clubs could be looking at other options for the future.
