Chelsea are in the market to sign at least two centre-backs this summer, and the Blues have been linked with Sevilla defender Jules Kounde, Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly, Manchester City’s Nathan Ake and Juventus Matthijs de Ligt.

Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio, has confirmed Chelsea’s interest in De Ligt.

According to reports, Juventus value De Ligt around £80m even though the centre-back has a £102million release clause.

Reports from Italy claim that De Ligt is interested in a move to Chelsea, and the Blues are confident a deal can be done.

According to Foot Mercato, Chelsea are stepping up their efforts to sign Matthijs de Ligt ahead of the 2022/23 season.

The report claims Chelsea will come up with a new offer of around €70 million for the Juventus defender, with Chelsea camp said to be confident of their chances of sealing the deal in the coming weeks.

And as per Italian source Tuttosport, Rudiger’s development from a fringe player under Frank Lampard to a world-class defender under Thomas Tuchel has ‘impressed’ Matthijs de Ligt, and he’s keen to grow under the German boss.

Former Chelsea defender Frank Leboeuf, has backed Chelsea target De Ligt to do well if he signs up for Chelsea, and he doesn’t see his lack of pace as an issue.

Asked if he had concerns over the pace of Matthijs de Ligt playing alongside Thiago Silva at the heart of the team’s defence, Leboeuf told ESPN: “It’s a fact.

“But they have other qualities. De Ligt was struggling at first at Juventus, but he showed [his quality] when playing for Ajax. He [also] showed last season that he is capable of dealing with any striker.

“With the experience of Thiago Silva, with the help of Edouard Mendy and with N’Golo Kante in front of him, I am sure he can sort any problems out.”