Chelsea negotiating with Juventus for Matthijs De Ligt; Jules Koundé ‘no longer the top target’ — report

After a nearly two-season-long pursuit, Chelsea appear to have basically given up, or at least put on the back burner, the idea of signing Jules Koundé from Sevilla, and are instead focusing on the (somewhat unexpected) opportunity to sign Matthijs De Ligt from Juventus instead. That’s according to the latest transfer round-up from Telegraph, which puts De Ligt at the top of our wishlist, ahead of Koundé and anyone else at the position that is supposed to be our first priority for this summer’s transfer window.

De Ligt’s contract talks with Juventus have broken down (“ruptured”) rather spectacularly if reports last week out of Italy are to be believed, and there’s supposedly a chance to sign the 22-year-old for around €70-90m (cash only; interesting trades not considered). That’s obviously a sizeable investment, but we do have something like 200m to spend, and are hoping to secure a marquee signing or two. De Ligt would certainly qualify as one.

It’s a bold decision, putting all our eggs in De Ligt’s basket, and one perhaps also related to the change in decision-making at the top at the club. There’s every chance that Koundé goes to Barcelona in the meantime, so hopefully we’re making the right move(s) here. (We could still sign both, I suppose, but that appears doubtful, at best, given the way the Koundé narrative has evolved.)