must sign Matthijs de Ligt from in the summer transfer window, according to Frank Leboeuf.
Netherlands international De Ligt is Chelsea’s primary defensive transfer target .
The 22-year-old centre-back joined from three years ago for £67.8m but has largely failed to live up to expectations and is reported to have informed the Italian club of his desire to leave amid strong interest from Chelsea.
Juventus have already turned down the Blues’ offer of and according to reports
Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger left Chelsea this summer, leaving Thiago Silva – who turns 38 in September – along with Trevoh Chalobah and Malang Sarr as the club’s only recognised senior central defenders.
Asked on if he had concerns over the pace of Matthijs de Ligt playing alongside Thiago Silva at the heart of the team’s defence, Leboeuf, who won two FA Cups and the EFL Cup at Chelsea between 1996 and 2001, told : ‘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.
‘It’s not the only possibility for Chelsea in central defence, we also hear about Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli, but I definitely think De Ligt will please the Chelsea fans and will do well for the club. I’d go for him, I’d definitely go for him.’
Chelsea are also close agreeing a fee with Manchester City that would see Nathan Ake return to Stamford Bridge, while the Blues are also increasingly confident of completing the signing of Raheem Sterling.
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