Chelsea will be ‘in direct contact’ over £200k-a-week star at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea will ‘be in direct contact’ with Juventus over defender Matthijs de Ligt again ‘this week’, according to reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano.

The Blues are eager to strengthen at centre-back following the departures of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen to Real Madrid and Barcelona, respectively.

A recent report from the Daily Mail revealed that Chelsea are focussing their attention on using Werner as a makeweight in any potential deal for De Ligt.

It’s claimed that the west London outfit have already seen a €40 million (£34.4m) bid including the Germany international for De Ligt rejected by Juve, yet remain confident of securing a deal.

The central defender currently has two years left to run on his current £200,000-per-week contract at the Allianz Stadium, which also contains a €120m (£102m) release clause.

De Ligt is believed to be keen to make the switch to Stamford Bridge, though, and is hoping Juventus will accept an offer below that astronomical figure.

Meanwhile, Chelsea are also willing to include Christian Pulisic in a possible swap deal, meaning there are several avenues for the two clubs to explore.

Romano has informed GiveMeSport that Chelsea will re-enter negotiations with the Old Lady over De Ligt imminently, although the Italian giants want ‘a different value’ of Werner.

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He told GMS: “They will be in direct contact with Juventus again this week to discuss about potential players to be included in the deal, like Timo Werner again.

“But Juventus want a different value of Timo Werner in the deal, not for £50 million or £60 million but for a completely different value.”

De Ligt has already racked up 31 goal contributions in