Chelsea interested in Juventus' De Ligt

Chelsea are interested in Juventus centre-back Matthijs de Ligt, reports Sky in Italy.

The 22-year-old Netherlands defender has a £103m (€120m) release clause in his Juventus contract, which is due to expire in 2024, and the club will only entertain offers close to that mark.

Juventus club chiefs met with De Ligt's agent Rafaela Pimenta on Thursday, mainly to speak about Paul Pogba's potential return to Turin.

Chelsea are looking for defensive reinforcements in this transfer window, having seen Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen leave upon the expiration of their contracts.

Juventus agreed to pay an initial fee of €75m (£67.8m) across five financial years to Ajax for De Ligt in 2019, making him the most expensive defender in Italian top-flight history.

De Ligt - Ajax's youngest-ever captain - led the Eredivisie club to a domestic league and cup double that year, as well as taking them to the Champions League semi-finals in which they lost to Tottenham in the final seconds in Amsterdam.

He has played 87 times for Juve in Serie A, winning the division in 2019/20 although they have not progressed past the Champions League last 16.

Sky Sports News chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol:

"The deal will be done and Lukaku is also getting his wish. He is returning to Inter Milan. Obviously, Chelsea paid £97.5m for him and the move hasn't worked out. Inter are paying a £7m loan fee and he's also taking a pay-cut of around 35 per cent to return to Inter as it's what he wants to do.

"It's good news for Chelsea that this situation has been sorted out as they can really now press play when it comes to signing players. We know they want to sign a centre-back because Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger have left.

"Sky Italy are