Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri will undoubtedly be eager to continue to stamp his mark on his newly inherited squad, and Daniele Rugani has been linked with a move.
As noted by BBC Sport, the Italian tactician has already swooped for Jorginho to set up a reunion with his former Napoli star, and it could prove to be a crucial addition to help him implement his style of play at Stamford Bridge with little time before his first season in charge gets underway.
However, he’s seemingly still keen to bolster his options ahead of the upcoming Premier League campaign, with The Sun tipping Chelsea to make a £45m offer for Juventus defender Rugani.
The 23-year-old is undoubtedly a talented individual and has previous experience working with Sarri too during their time at Empoli, and so it would seem to be another sensible bit of business if the Blues can pull a deal off to prise the centre-half away from the Turin giants.
In what is seemingly a blow to Chelsea though, his agent, Davide Torchia, has suggested that neither Juventus nor Rugani have ever claimed that an exit is either desired or a possibility.
“Chelsea’s interest in Rugani is there, but beyond the figures there is a technical question. Juventus nor the player have ever said they want a departure,” he is quoted as saying by Calciomercato.
“Rugani is calm and happy, he is training and thinks of Juventus. Tonight he will play against Bayern [in the International Champions Cup].”
With that in mind, it doesn’t sound particularly promising from a Chelsea perspective that they’ll be able to snap him up this summer. Nevertheless, as noted by Sky Sports, the return of Leonardo Bonucci to Juventus from AC Milan could complicate the situation for Rugani in terms of his playing time next season and that in turn could push him closer to Chelsea.