Chelsea have stepped up their interest in signing Matthijs de Ligt this summer, a source has told football.london. The Netherlands international is one of the Blues' top defensive targets as Thomas Tuchel looks to replace the departed Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen.
De Ligt has two years remaining on his contract at Juventus but is understood to be open to leaving the Turin-based club this summer. Chelsea are looking to pay £43million plus Timo Werner for the 22-year-old defender, who made a £77m switch to Juventus from Ajax in July 2019.
The Blues are expected to make official contact with Juventus in the coming days over a move for De Ligt. Chelsea have already spoken to Juve about a deal, but with the west Londoners' interest recently intensifying, the next conversation between the clubs is expected to be more advanced.
READ MORE: Matthijs de Ligt's Juventus hint can give Thomas Tuchel exactly what he wants at Chelsea
Chelsea head coach Tuchel is looking to bring in two new defenders over the coming weeks following the double departure of Rudiger and Christensen. The former of the two, Rudiger, recently completed a free transfer to Real Madrid, while Christensen is still looking for a new club.
De Ligt has been identified as one of the new defenders Tuchel wants to bring in. football.london understands the Chelsea head coach is a huge fan of the Dutchman, who is one of the highest-rated young central defenders in European football.
His Dutch compatriot Edwin van der Sar, who worked with De Ligt at Ajax, believes his mentality is similar to Cristiano Ronaldo. Van der Sar, the chief executive of Ajax, played with Ronaldo during the latter's first spell at Old Trafford.
Speaking in 2019, the former Holland goalkeeper said: "His mentality, that of someone who always tries to improve, makes him want to be the best in the world. I've already seen players like him. One of them plays for his own team [when Ronaldo was at Juventus] and it's Cristiano Ronaldo.
"I played with him at Manchester United and saw the same desire to work hard and be the best. He has the same desire and hunger as De Ligt. Matthijs is only 19 years old. He was fantastic with us at Ajax: he was our rock and captain."
De Ligt recently left the door open for a move away from Juventus. While not directly saying he wants to leave the Italian club, he insisted he is waiting for the "right moment" to make a definitive decision over his future.
He said: "There are ongoing conversations between me and Juventus. Right now I am focused on how I perform [with Holland] on the pitch, once the right moment arrives I will decide to extend or to look further.
"I look at the sporting project [at Juventus]. Ending fourth in a row 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 am focused on that."
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