Chelsea remain the ‘most interested’ club in Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt, but the situation around Roman Abramovich ‘slows everything down’.
That’s according to Calciomercato, who say the Russian’s efforts to sell the club mean a move for the Dutchman is now on the backburner.
Abramovich officially put Chelsea up for sale this week amid the growing tension caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
That has led to some Russian billionaires having their assets frozen and seized the world over, although the British government has yet to go as far as their European counterparts.
That could happen, though, leading Abramovich to initiate a fire-sale of his British assets, Chelsea being at the top of that list.
The hunt for new owners is now on, and, it seems, that’s affected any potential transfer business going forwards, which is where De Ligt comes into it.
He’s been heavily linked with a move away from Juventus this summer, and Chelsea are thought to be keen given they may need to replace Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and Cesar Azpilicueta this summer.
De Ligt was an option given he was considering his future at the club, but CM say his mind may have now been changed, having recently realised he ‘wants to stay at Juventus for a long time’.
Juve are happy to make that happen and are working out the economics to get the Dutchman signed to a new deal that suits all parties.
There is still the possibility that he could leave and be sacrificed to raise funds, and if that were to happen, Chelsea ‘was and is’ the club ‘most interested’ in a deal. However, the ‘Roman Abramovich situation obviously slows everything down’.
In other words, they’re unlikely to be doing any transfer business until the ownership issue is resolved, so a move for De Ligt appears to be off the table for now.
