Chelsea’s Kante-De Ligt swap deal offer
Karan Tejwani
- 26 Sep 2022 01:35 CDT
- 3 min read
Juventus were able to offload Matthijs de Ligt over the summer transfer window as the Dutch defender made a move to German champions Bayern Munich in one of the most expensive transfers of the window.
De Ligt was adamant on leaving after three years in Turin, with his progress being limited, and the Italian club were keen on selling him as quickly as possible.
Immediately after handing in a transfer request, the interest in him was high, and Bayern Munich weren’t the only side interested in securing his signature.
De Ligt has a big reputation in European football having made his name as a teenager with Ajax, and there was also interest in him from Chelsea, which was well-reported over the summer period.
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Chelsea were very keen on De Ligt
Chelsea were incredibly keen on improving their defence over the window, as evident by their signings of Kalidou Koulibaly, Marc Cucurella and Wesley Fofana for big sums.
Things could’ve been very different, however, as they had eyes on De Ligt, with Chelsea even entering talks with the Turin club in the hope of signing the player.
Juventus interest in N'Golo Kante is only superficial at this point. Lots of clubs monitoring his situation, including PSG. Juventus first enquired on Kante during dialogue surrounding then-Juve defender Matthijs de Ligt. But Max Allegri preferred Jorginho, who wasn't keen.
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) September 22, 2022
Chelsea even offered N’Golo Kante in a swap deal to Juventus in the hope of getting De Ligt, but that offer was rejected by the Italian club, who ended up getting a big fee from Bayern Munich.
According to Calciomercato, Juventus felt that Kante wasn’t as valuable as De Ligt, given the Frenchman’s age and increasing injury record that made this deal hard to pursue.
There has been speculation over Kante’s future at the Blues, with new co-owner Todd Boehly not keen to given him a long-term contract because of his injury concerns.
Kante’s deal with Chelsea runs out next summer and he wants a long-term extension, however, he may have to start looking for a new club elsewhere as there hasn’t been any indication of Chelsea providing him with that.
