Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich have reportedly joined the race with Chelsea to sign Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt this summer.
The Bavarians have won 10 league titles on the trot in Germany.
And are looking to strengthen their squad even further this transfer window.
They have already added Sadio Mane from Liverpool and Noussair Mazraoui and Ryan Gravenberch from Ajax as Julian Nagelsmann prepares for his second season in the Allianz Arena dugout.
However, they have left Niklas Sule on a free transfer to rivals Borussia Dortmund and are yet to replace him.
But, there are reports by Sky Germany that Bayern has now joined the race for De Ligt’s signature.
And talks have already begun positively.
According to Sky’s Florian Plettenberg, De Ligt wants to join the Bavarian giants after initial talks with Nagelsmann and Hasan Salihamidzic impressed him.
Bayern Munich and Juventus are in talks for De Ligt.
Although Bianconeri’s asking price may prove too expensive for Bayern.
Juventus are currently demanding between €60m and €80m.
With the price likely to slide closer to the higher end of that scale.
Bayern has reportedly identified De Ligt as their backline’s next leader, which was communicated to the Dutchman during initial talks.
A massive blow to Chelsea
Chelsea has led the race for De Ligt for a considerable amount of time, but the report from Sky Germany suggests that the player would now instead join Bayern following talks and is hopeful of agreeing on a deal.
Thomas Tuchel’s side has prioritised the former Ajax defender as their number one defensive target this summer.
Timo Werner and Christian Pulisic both suggested possible make-weights in a deal.
However, it seems that De Ligt is set to snub the Blues to join the most dominant domestic side in Europe’s top five leagues.
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