Matthijs de Ligt explains why Chelsea transfer never materialised before joining Bayern Munich

Matthijs de Ligt has denied that he came close to signing for Chelsea in the summer, before joining Bayern Munich.

Juventus were approached by the Blues but the Dutch defender ended up leaving for Germany in a £68million deal, with De Ligt affirming that he never held talks with Chelsea despite their enquiry.

“Yes, but that wasn’t to do with me,” De Ligt said. “I had my sights on Bayern.

“It wasn’t close with me but maybe [it was between] the clubs. Honestly, I didn’t speak to them this summer. There were a lot of rumours that didn’t come from me.”

He continued: “[Bayern] is amazing. I am having a nice time there. It feels like home after many months.

“I think the way I played with Bayern gave me the opportunity to play the first game [of the World Cup] so I feel made a good decision and I am really happy there.”

Meanwhile, there are concerns that De Ligt’s former club Juventus are in disarray after prosecutors called for the club’s former boss Andrea Agnelli and 11 other ex-board members to face a trial for alleged false accounting.

The entire board resigned on Monday and there are concerns that the Serie A giants could sell off talent to try and balance the books.

De Ligt said of the situation: “It is quite difficult to see because Juventus has amazing supporters.

“They have an amazing team so I feel sorry for them and hopefully it is not too bad. It was asked to me if that’s the reason I left but that’s not the case. It was just a sporting decision so I feel sorry for the club and fans.”

The 23-year-old came off the bench for the Netherlands on Saturday as they beat the USA in the World Cup last-16, having only started one of his side’s group matches.

He said: “Every player wants to play but we are a group of 26 players. I have already played more than I expected because I thought I would play nothing at this World Cup.

“I know my role and I train hard every day to help the team. I am okay. It might be the way of playing and the coaching of the team [that explains why] so I am okay. We won together again and we’re in the quarter finals so it is okay.”