VIDEO: Matthijs de Ligt to Chelsea 'close' as Juventus identify Thomas Tuchel favourite to replace him.

 VIDEO: Matthijs de Ligt to Chelsea 'close' as Juventus identify Thomas Tuchel favourite to replace him.

Paris Saint-Germain defender Presnel Kimpembe can help Chelsea secure the mega money signing of Matthijs de Ligt this summer

Matthijs de Ligt to Chelsea has seemingly moved closer as Juventus prepare for life without the Dutchman as a contingency plan has been put into plan by the club ahead of crunch talks.

The Dutchman's move to the Premier League has taken a massive step forward with the Old Lady now quoting well below the £103million release clause that Juve's No. 4 has in his contract. A reported fallout between the player and Juventus board over new contract negotiations has seemingly put the Serie A outfit in a position where the parting of the ways for the right price could be the best option on the table now for all involved.

Chelsea were initially worried that they could themselves be priced out for the 22-year-old Ajax prodigy but the fallout with his current club has handed manager Thomas Tuchel his ideal situation. It is understood that despite Jules Kounde always being the club target when Marina Granovskaia was in charge of transfer business, Tuchel himself has always personally preferred de Ligt over the Frenchman.

No wonder then that the Blues and Juve are set for crunch talks this Thursday to hash out the differences in this potential swap deal. The likes of Christian Pulisic, Timo Werner and Jorginho all have the potential to be included in this transfer operation.

Regardless of who is to be requested by Max Allegri's side, the common feeling as the CEO alluded to in his recent comments is that life will need to move on without de Ligt.