Premier League giants Chelsea have suffered a huge setback in their long running bid to sign Juventus star Matthijs de Ligt with the central defender agreeing to join German powerhouse Bayern Munich. 

Multiple German media outlets confirmed on Sunday night that De Ligt is set to sign a five-year contract with Bayern, bringing to a successful conclusion a long negotiation between the Bundesliga champions and the 22-year-old Dutch sensation. 

According to Fabrizio Romano, one of the world's most reliable journalists with regard to football transfers, Bayarn stepped up negotiations for De Ligt after completing a deal to sell the Polish striker Robert Lewandowski to Barcelona, and the transfer fee for De Ligt could reach 80 million euros ($80 million) plus the add-ons.

The price tag would equal the amount of money that Bayern paid to sign Atletico Madrid defender Lucas Hernandez back in 2019, which then smashed the club's transfer record.  

De Ligt's decision to move to Germany has struck a blow for Chelsea, who are looking for defensive reinforcements in this transfer window, having seen both key defenders Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen leave upon the expiration of their contracts. 

According to Calciomercato, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has long identified De Ligt as his primary target, and club chairman Todd Boehly made contact with Juventus earlier this month to close the deal for the promising defender. But after meeting De Ligt and his representatives last week, Bayern have managed to gazump Chelsea for the Dutchman.

Tuchel has been left frustrated by the club's transfer activity so far. While Raheem Sterling has arrived at Stamford Bridge to usher in a new era, Chelsea continue to struggle to show any sign that they have a coherent plan for rebuilding their defensive line. 

"We have clear ideas for the profiles and characteristic of these players," Tuchel told a press conference when asked about the club's transfer plan. "It is not like you put a name on the list and then you get the player. You have to convince the player, you have to speak to other clubs and convince yourself this is the player. 

"The two top teams [Man City and Liverpool ] improve their teams and have teams that are very clear on which they build. It's a rebuild necessary for us and that makes it more challenging, of course.

"So there is normally a lot of work and it will be the same to be competitive next season, while, like everybody else, tries to close the gap to us, while the two top teams are what they are. A benchmark of consistency.  

This is the situation and from there we do our very best to be competitive because this is what we want to be. It will be a super tough race. Manchester United will be in the race and Tottenham will be in the race with Antonio Conte for sure.  

We want to stay in the race and Liverpool and Man City do everything to make their squads bigger and they set the standard so high. This is the challenge in which we compete."

In contrast to Chelsea's frustrations, City have set a new standard for getting transfer business done this summer.  

The English champions beat off competition from Real Madrid and Barcelona to sign Borussia Dortmund's 21-year-old Erling Haaland, one of the best young strikers in the world. They also secured the service of Kalvin Phillips, who played a key role for England as they reached the Euro final last year.