Chelsea informed about availability of 23-year-old centre-back if Matthijs de Ligt joins Bayern Munich: Reports

Chelsea’s search for a new top-quality centre-back has received a boost with Bayern Munich’s Dayot Upamecano set to be made available. The Bavarian giants are interested in signing Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt from Juventus.

According to 90min.com, this arrival could see the French defender deemed surplus to requirements at Allianz. This could make him available to Chelsea at an affordable price and help Thomas Tuchel strengthen his backline.

Chelsea are in need of defensive reinforcements following the departure of senior defenders Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen. The Blues will need a top-quality defender to shore up their ranks as they push for success next season under the new ownership of Todd Boehly.

While Chelsea are also linked with a move for De Ligt, they look set to win even if they lose the bidding war against Bayern. Both defenders are young, have high ceilings, and can provide the base of a solid defense for years to come.

Chelsea will hope to recruit smartly ahead of the next season as they hope to catch up to Manchester city and Liverpool domestically. Whichever defender signs, the Blues will be able to challenge more effectively with them than without.

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Chelsea reveal 29-man squad to travel on tour to USA this summer

The Blues left England this morning for the other side of the pond, where they will start their tour in Los Angeles, before going to Las Vegas. The tour will also see them play against Charlotte FC in North Carolina and Orlando in Florida.

The first-team absentees from the squad that traveled include N'Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who can't enter the US due to their COVID vaccination status. According to US immigration law, only citizens, nationals, and permanent residents are allowed into the country unvaccinated.

Players who missed a major part of the previous season due to injury, like Ben Chilwell and Callum Hudson-Odoi, are going on tour. They will be alongside youngsters Harvey Vle and Teddy Sharman-Lowe.

Some players who were on loan last season, like Conor Gallagher and Ethan Ampadu, are part of the tour squad as well. Armando Broja will be joining the squad next week.

The Blues released the names of their full squad on tour:

GK: Arrizabalaga, Bettinelli, Mendy, Sharman-Lowe

DF: Alonso, Ampadu, Azpilicueta, Chalobah, Chilwell, Colwill, Emerson, James, Kenedy, Sarr, Silva

MD: Barkley, Gallagher, Gilmour, Jorginho, Kovačić, Mount, Vale

FW: Anjorin, Batshuayi, Havertz, Hudson-Odoi, Pulisic, Werner, Ziyech