Chelsea set to battle Bayern Munich and Barcelona in race for highly rated Dutch defender

Posted Friday, January 21, 2022 by Caughtoffside.com

Chelsea are in the market for a new set of centre backs ahead of the coming summer, but will need to beat Bayern Munich and Barcelona to one of their targets.

Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt is the man reportedly on The Blues radar after he is said to have grown unhappy with life in Turin.

According to La Repubblica, De Ligt has grown tired of the constant questions being asked over his form, and could seek a move away from the Serie A this window as a result.

The reported fee that he would command is estimated to be around the £54m mark, a fee Chelsea could realistically afford.

However, while they could easily afford it, they will need to battle Bayern Munich and Barcelona in order to sign him.

Barcelona are after improvements to their defence, with only Gerard Pique really being considered as a good central defender in their ranks but even he is far from his prime.

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich would most likely have the most appealing football project and chance to win major trophies, but while the 22-year-old is a target they are already stacked at centre-back.

De Ligt joined Juventus from Ajax in 2019, and has since made 98 appearances for the Old Lady scoring six times and assisting twice, very good scoring numbers for a central defender.