Chelsea turn attention to Dutch defender as ideal replacement for Antonio Rudiger

Chelsea are linked with a move for highly rated Dutch and Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt with LondonWorld sources in Italy saying the Blues are keen on a move.

The young but highly-regarded centre back joined Juventus in 2019 for a reported £80million, having led Ajax to an incredible Champions League run.

De Ligt is regarded as one of the best ball-playing defenders in the world, and even though his form and profile has dipped since moving to Turin there is genuine interest from big clubs across Europe.

Chelsea will have to rebuild the core of their defensive set-up with the leader and fighter Antonio Rudiger joining Real Madrid, while Andreas Christensen is said to be joining Barcelona.

The Blues are yet to conclude a deal since Todd Boehly took over, but they are expected to go really hard once the transfer window officially opens.

There is strong interest in Sevilla’s Jules Koundé - having tried and failed last summer - but with the departure of Rudiger, there is certainly a hole at the heart of defence to be filled.

What has De Ligt said regarding a possible move away from Juventus

The 22-year-old has been very modest and professional when it comes to commenting on his future.

He often prefers to let his agents do the talking in the press while he does his talking on the field.

Asked about the Premier League links, the former Ajax captain said: “Right now I am focused on how I perform on the pitch, once the right moment arrives I will decide to extend or to look further

“I look at the sporting project. Ending fourth for two years in a row is not good enough, Juventus knows this too.

“So being Juventus, we have to make steps. I’m a Juventus player so I’m focused on that.”

Chelsea finished a disappointing 3rd in the Premier League, but they did get to the final of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup, losing both on penalties to Liverpool.

Thomas Tuchel is a master of knock-out football and will be desperate to bring in fresh blood to augment his team that looked distracted towards the end of the season.