Juventus are wary that Chelsea could make a move for Mathijs de Ligt in the summer when his €120m release clause comes into effect.
That’s according to Tuttosport, who say the Italian side have started to make plans for life without the Dutchman should he depart.
Chelsea are likely to be on the hunt for a new centre-back in the summer, particularly as Andreas Christensen, Cesar Azpilicueta and Antonio Rudiger are all out of contract.
None of those three are close to signing new deals, meaning the Blues could lose three first-team players in a key position.
De Ligt has regularly been named among the centre-backs that they could target, and Tuttosport say ‘the possibility exists’ that it could happen.
According to them, Chelsea, PSG, Bayern Munich or Barcelona could try to ‘make a breakthrough’ with a lower offer than his €120m release clause, which comes into effect in June this year.
They’re already preparing a list of replacements for the Dutchman, who they could make a ‘classic technical sacrifice’ which would allow them greater economic margin in the transfer market.
That’s only if he leaves, and Juventus aren’t keen on that, with their intention to keep the former Ajax star if they can.
His current contract expires in 2024, and they want to extend that, taking advantage of the ‘excellent’ relationship they have with the player and his agent Mino Raiola.
De Ligt, though, already boasts the highest salary in the squad, and that would be hard to improve at this point. Thus the idea of a one-year extension has been mooted.
That would give Juventus time to plan and the defender’s price to rise further, thus giving the Italian giants more should the likes of Chelsea come calling.
