It ended up being one of the soap operas of the summer transfer window, but it appears that Chelsea have now gone cold in their pursuit of Sevilla’s highly-rated centre-back, Jules Kounde.
Thomas Tuchel’s Blues have started their 2021/22 Premier League campaign in impressive fashion, and another good result against Manchester City this weekend will arguably strengthen their credentials, despite still being in the very early stages of the season.
To that end, as well as having the cachet of being European champions, they remain an attractive proposition to players wanting to improve their game.
With a move for Kounde seemingly dead in the water because of the Andalusians refusal to lower their asking price, Calciomercato, cited by the Daily Star, suggest that attentions have now turned to Juventus warrior, Matthijs de Ligt.
The young Dutchman has a release clause of €150m that is activated at the end of the current campaign, and whilst that’s an enormous amount for a defender, his future projection would suggest it could be a bargain when thinking longer term.
Money appears to be no object for Roman Abramovich in any event, so if Tuchel can convince the owner that de Ligt is worth the spend, there’s every chance he’ll end up in west London.