Tuchel Could Sign $174M Star Amid Contract Issues Of Chelsea's Key Defenders: Report

Juventus have reportedly offered Chelsea a chance to sign center-back Matthijs de Ligt ahead of the 2022 summer transfer window.

The Turin club is looking to offload de Ligt's whopping $385,000-a-week from their wage bill, reported Goal. The lucrative add-ons in de Ligt’s contract mean the Dutchman earns even more in bonuses.

Chelsea have one of the strongest defenses in Europe at present, having kept more clean sheets than they have conceded goals in the 2021-22 season. They thrashed Norwich City 7-0 in the Premier League on Saturday, which was their third clean sheet in four games.

With several defenders out of contract next summer and no new deals signed yet, Chelsea are looking to reinforce their defense. In fact, they tried everything to sign Jules Kounde from Seville last summer but the La Liga side refused to lower their asking price of $94 million, which the Blues refused to match.

De Ligt's agent, Mino Raiola, recently suggested his client could leave Juventus next summer.

"De Ligt could also leave Juventus at the end of the season, Raiola said as per Metro. "This is how the market works, there are many clubs who are interested in his services."

The 22-year-old player has started only five out of Juventus’ eight Serie A games and has been splitting time with veteran Giorgio Chiellini. De Ligt, who moved from Ajax to Juventus in the summer of 2019 at a fee of $87 million, has a release clause of around $174 million in his contract. It is understood that the release clause is expected to get activated at the end of the 2021-22 campaign.

Chelsea, who won the Champions League last season, are in a tricky situation. Thomas Tuchel’s preferred defenders — Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger, Thiago Silva — all are out of contract in the summer of 2022.

Christensen’s extension talks have stalled for two months now, according to Sports Illustrated. The Danish center-back was offered a new four-year deal in August but a low pay meant the 25-year-old defender has not agreed to any terms yet and will be free to begin negotiations with other clubs starting Jan. 1, 2022.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that Rudiger, who has grown massively under Tuchel, has been in talks with Premier League rivals Manchester City, while he also has other clubs after him, including Real Madrid, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).