Chelsea Leading Race For Juventus' Matthijs De Ligt Amid Man City, PSG And Real Madrid Interest

Chelsea are leading the race for Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt, according to reports in Italy.

The central defender looks like he could be on his way out of the Serie A, with the Blues appearing the be the frontrunners.

This comes as Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen depart Stamford Bridge on free transfers at the end of their contracts.

The German has been officially unveiled as a Real Madrid player, with Christensen heavily linked with a move to Barcelona.

This leaves Chelsea in dire need of central defenders in the transfer window, with Thiago Silva, Trevoh Chalobah and Cesar Azpilicueta the only three senior defenders currently at the club who will be playing in blue next season.

The latest reports have stated that Chelsea are willing to fund the signing of de Ligt if Tuchel decides that he is the best option.

Chelsea have reportedly identified Josko Gvardiol and Jules Kounde, with the latter set to join this summer.

If Tuchel believes de Ligt to be a better fit than Gvardiol, the Chelsea board are willing to finalise the signing.

Now, it has been revealed that Chelsea are leading the race for the Dutch international, as Corriere dello Sport report.

The Italian media outlet state that ‘the threat from the market is becoming more and more concrete and worrying’ as Manchester City, PSG, Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona and Manchester United are all interested in the defender.

However, ‘leading the squad of suitors for the Dutchman is Chelsea’, who are in the market for defenders in the summer window.

The report continues to state that he is wanted by the new ownership as they look for a 'high-profile' transfer to replace Rudiger.

Kounde looks the most likely to join de Ligt at Stamford Bridge, if the Dutchman is to sign, with Tuchel previously hinting at a transfer for the French international last season.

He said: "It was clear we tried for Kounde and Saul (Niguez) and it was very, very late but it was a very, very smooth transfer window because I had full concentration on training and on my team."

However, an injury was thought to have thrown the transfer into doubt but recent reports believe that Chelsea will sign Kounde despite an issue with his groin.

It is unclear as to who will join the 23-year-old at Stamford Bridge if he is to make the switch, with links to de Ligt becoming even stronger.