Chelsea turn focus to fellow Serie A defender after deciding against De Ligt

Chelsea have turned their attention to Inter Milan defender Milan Skriniar after refusing to pay the release clause of Juventus’ Matthijs de Ligt. 

As per The Mail, the Blues were deterred from pursuing the Dutchman after becoming aware of his £102 million release clause, a fee that the Italian side were unwilling to negotiate on.

Thomas Tuchel is keen to add at least one central defender to his squad following the departures of both Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger, and has been linked with moves for Jules Kounde and Nathan Ake.

De Ligt, who joined the Serie A side for more than £75 million, had also emerged as a target, but Chelsea will now look into the possibility of signing Slovakian defender Skriniar.

Skriniar is set to be the focus of a bidding war between Chelsea and PSG

The Inter centre-back is also the subject of interest from French champions Paris Saint-Germain, who are believed to have already launched a bid of £52 million for the 27-year-old.

Chelsea are ready to table their own offer though, and are willing to bid as much as £64 million.

Inter value the player highly but are willing to let him leave for the right price as they look to balance the books this summer.

The Slovakia international made 48 appearances for Inter across all competitions last season, and has been capped 54 times by his national side.