Chelsea will get ‘discount’ for Serie A star as they ‘contact’ agent of another defender
Chelsea have been told they will get ‘special treatment’ if they sign Inter Milan centre-back Milan Skriniar this summer, according to reports.
The Slovakia international has been a key part of the Inter team that won the Scudetto in 2021 and finished just two points behind arch-rivals and champions AC Milan last term.
Over two Serie A seasons, Inter Milan only conceded 67 goals in 76 matches with Skriniar, Stefan de Vrij, and Alessandro Bastoni marshalling the defence brilliantly.
Sterling can sort the Chelsea wheat from the chaff, and there’s a hell of a lot of chaff
Chelsea have been linked with a number of centre-backs this summer already after losing Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen to La Liga this summer.
Bastoni has been linked and now Inter Milan team-mate Skriniar is the subject of interest with Italian publication Corriere dello Sport (via Sport Witness) now claiming Chelsea will be given ‘special treatment’ if they attempt to close a deal for the centre-back.
It is understood that Chelsea ‘haven’t presented a proposal or talked about numbers’ yet but they will be able to count on ‘a discount’ from Inter, thanks to their agreement to allow Romelu Lukaku to return to the San Siro on loan.
The Blues are looking to bring in two centre-backs this summer and Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio insists the Premier League outfit have made ‘contact’ with the agent of Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly.
It is understood that Chelsea will ‘aim for’ the Senegal international, who is in the last year of his contract in Naples, with the ‘high prices’ of other targets leading the Blues to ‘enquire’ about Koulibaly.
Manchester City’s Nathan Ake and Juventus’ Matthijs de Ligt have also been linked and former Premier League defender Alan Hutton reckons De Ligt would ‘be the one to replace Rudiger’.
“De Ligt has played at such a high level and he’s done a lot for somebody that’s only 22,” Hutton told Football Insider.
“Rudiger was such a key part of Chelsea’s back line and what they did that they need to try and get a like for like player.
“I think you have to bring somebody like that in, to replace Rudiger and play at that high level week in week out, and he [de Ligt] could possibly do that.
“Ake is a really good player and he knows this level, but he’s been a bit unlucky at Man City. So I think de Ligt would be the one to replace Rudiger. He’s had the big move from Ajax to Juventus and he’s played at that level.”