Chelsea FC are unlikely to sign Matthijs de Ligt from Juventus despite being linked with a swoop for the Netherlands international, according to transfer insider Fabrizio Romano.
The Dutch centre-half’s future at Juventus has been the source of a lot of speculation seeing as De Ligt has struggled to establish himself as a top player at the Italian club.
Juventus are currently toiling in eighth position in the Serie A table and the Turin side are trailing pace-setters Napoli and AC Milan in the title race.
De Ligt is being linked with a big-money move as Juve look to raise funds to improve Massimiliano Allegri’s squad after the Italian head coach returned to the Turin side in the summer.
The 22-year-old has started nine of their 12 games in the Italian top flight but question marks continue to linger over the Netherlands international’s future.
Chelsea FC are potentially facing something of a contract crisis at the back, considering that Thiago Silva, Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen are all in the final months of their respective deals.
The Blues have been the best defensive unit in the Premier League this term but speculation is rife surrounding the futures of Rudiger and Christensen beyond the current campaign.
Chelsea FC have been linked with a swoop to sign De Ligt alongside Sevilla defender Jules Kounde.
However, Romano has now played down speculation suggesting that De Ligt could be heading to the south west London side in the 2022 summer transfer window.
“At the moment from Juve’s side, they’ve received nothing from Chelsea for Matthijs de Ligt,” Romano told the Here We Go Podcast last week.
“I can add Matthijs de Ligt is not leaving Juve in January so maybe it’ll be something for the summer.
“There are no contacts between Matthijs de Ligt and Chelsea about the summer. I expect Chelsea to do something in defence but I’m not sure it’ll be Matthijs de Ligt.
De Ligt has scored six times in 89 games in Serie A over the past three seasons since his move to Juventus.
Juventus won the race to sign the Netherlands international in a €75m deal from Ajax in 2019.