Chelsea’s defence has been a shambles for well over a month now, so it should be no surprise to supporters that the club are linked with the signing of a new centre-back in the summer transfer window.
The Blues have conceded at least two goals in each of their previous seven consecutive matches across all competitions, including in Sunday’s disappointing 2-2 league draw away to Sheffield United.
Journalist Ben Jacobs said via GiveMeSport last week that Chelsea have always been planning to sign a new centre-half before next season.
So, what will Mauricio Pochettino’s side look like in defence next year?
Chelsea now linked with Bundesliga defender
Journalist Simon Phillips reported on his Substack yesterday that Bayern Munich’s Matthijs de Ligt is on Chelsea’s radar for this summer.
Apparently, there’s some that believe the 24-year-old Bundesliga centre-back is the perfect option to bring in to improve the struggling defence. He was actually once wanted by Chelsea’s owners before they signed Kalidou Koulibaly instead.
In addition, Bayern may be willing to listen to offers for him in the summer.
De Ligt, who earns £263,000-a-week (Salary Sport), has had one of the more challenging seasons so far of his career at the Allianz Arena,
However, the former Ajax and Juventus star has proven in the past his quality as a strong young central defender.
Mauricio Pochettino previously wanted Matthijs de Ligt at Spurs
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time that Chelsea head coach Pochettino has been linked with De Ligt.
The Dutchman was hot property in the infancy of his career after emerging as the captain at Ajax.
According to The Sun back in June 2018, then-Tottenham manager Pochettino was lining up De Ligt as a signing to replace Toby Alderweireld. He stayed in Amsterdam before moving to Juventus in 2019, though.
Could they finally link up together at Chelsea next season? What we do know is Pochettino can’t seem to find a tune out of the defence he’s working with this year.
De Ligt’s already built up an impressive CV at the age of 24, but he’s yet to play in the Premier League.
Look below at his senior career to date: