All the Cristiano Ronaldo sideshow aside, Chelsea’s actual transfer priorities appear to be in a good spot with the team targeting defensive reinforcements and perhaps Raheem Sterling.
Defenders and Sterling are the priority for Tuchel/Chelsea at the moment… Many people would be surprised if Tuchel expressed a desire to sign Ronaldo, no matter how much he admires him. But that’s a conversation that has yet to be had. https://t.co/tO9zxi82hv
— Matt Law (@Matt_Law_DT) July 4, 2022
And it’s the earlier wing where we may see the biggest upswing, with reports in Italy today of an improved offer for Matthijs De Ligt. La Gazzetta dello Sport (via Football Italia) claim that Chelsea have submitted an offer of €80m (direct cash) for the 22-year-old, which may not meet his release clause (€120m) but could be good enough for Juventus accepted. The report claims that €90m is Juve’s asking price, but previous reports had seen a transfer in the €70m-75m range as quite possible.
Bayern’s interest in Matthijs de Ligt obviously affects the price. Chelsea’s latest proposal is already close to £70million. Both clubs are still working to achieve an agreed fee. Pretty open race. PSG not there. They want Milan Skriniar. https://t.co/gUPyCR5QdM
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) July 4, 2022
Other reports, both in Italy and England, are less clear, but it seems clear that we are working to make this happen. And we may actually need to step up that effort as Bayern Munich are also said to be in the running. Reports in Germany sound pretty positive about their chances, as such reports are used to.
Exclusive News de Ligt: Bayern want him & #delight wants to FC Bayern! Conversations with Nagelsmann & Salihamidzic impressed him! Negotiations between Bayern and Juve have started. Conversations are good. But: It is very expensive. Transfer expected between 60 and 80 million euros. @SkySports @Sky_Marc
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) July 4, 2022
Anyway, De Ligt is likely to leave and Juve are likely to rake in well. De Ligt says (of most) that he prefers Chelsea, but that preference seems less strong than, say, Raphinha’s preference for Barcelona.
Time to turn up the heat!
#desire: oggi. II #Chelsea Preparerà new offerta with base superiore ai 70 million. II #Bavaria ha continued to informarsi, interessato al difensore, ma oggi deve prima risolvere il quiz #Lewandowski
– Alfredo Pedulla (@AlfredoPedulla) July 4, 2022