Some weeks ago, Chelsea were believed to be leading the race for Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt.
De Ligt had been linked with a move to Chelsea, and was keen on leaving Juventus.
However, reports now have it that Matthijs de Ligt has placed talks with Chelsea on hold.
De Ligt is now waiting for an official offer to come in from his preferred destination Bayern Munich.
Bayern hijacked the deal after they put in a much higher offer than Chelsea – with an offer of €75m rising as high as €90m with add-ons on the table.
That would make De Ligt the most expensive defender in football history.
With Chelsea set to miss out on De Ligt to Bayern Munich, the Blues will move on to other transfer targets, with Nathan Ake deal now in the final stages.
Former Chelsea right-back Glen Johnson has however questioned the deal for Ake.
Glen Johnson doesn’t Ake is a suitable replacement for the departed Antonio Rudiger, and his signing isn’t the one that will excite the fans.
Speaking to GGRecon, Johnson was asked whether Chelsea fans would feel “underwhelmed” if Ake was the man to replace Rudiger. The former Blues right-back said: “Yes, definitely.
“No disrespect to Ake, but I think most people were surprised when he went to Manchester City, certainly for that amount of money [£40m]. Put it this way, he didn’t blow my mind when he was at Bournemouth. He’s just ‘OK’.
“Then we saw the amount of money for him to go to City, and it was like: ‘Jesus, where have they seen that?!’. I don’t think he’s a suitable replacement for Rudiger at all.”