Chelsea may well be set to suffer yet another hammer blow in their pursuit of summer reinforcements.
Todd Boehly looked set to deliver Thomas Tuchel’s first signing of the summer window, having agreed a fee with Leeds United to sign highly-rated winger Raphinha.
However, Raphinha’s preference appears to be to join Barcelona, with the Brazilian international ready to snub a move to Stamford Bridge in order to pursue his dreams.
That has left Chelsea out in the cold, and if recent reports are anything to go by, Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt could be set to do something similar.
TRUE✅ After Talks with Matthijs de Ligt (22) Bayern is convinced that for the Dutch @FCBayern is his first choice for a transfer. Now the Club want to start the negoitations with @juventusfc. But Bayern know that @ChelseaFC is the biggest concurrent
— Christian Falk (@cfbayern) July 6, 2022
Chelsea have already lost Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger this summer. Centre-back reinforcements ought to be top of their list of priorities this summer.
Boehly doesn’t appear to be having much luck in his efforts to reinforce Tuchel’s back-line, however, which will be a concern for everyone with any Chelsea affiliation.
There’s plenty of time left in the summer transfer window, of course, but if Chelsea’s top transfer targets end up elsewhere, they could be left with second-rate alternatives.
