Chelsea have set their sights on FC Twente’s thrilling centre-back Ruud Nijstad over a potential transfer to Stamford Bridge, in keeping with TEAMtalk.
The 18-year-old is the newest success story of Twente’s academy, which has produced the likes of FC Porto’s Luuk de Jong, Beighton’s Mats Wieffer, Ajax’s Steven Berghuis, and Manchester Metropolis’s Tijjani Reijnders.
He made his skilled debut for Twente within the Eredivisie on 5 October 2025 at simply 17 years previous, approaching within the eighth minute as an alternative to Robin Pröpper towards Heracles Almelo to assist his aspect safe a 2–1 victory.
Nijstad then earned his first begin on 18 October 2025 in an away league match towards NEC Nijmegen, enjoying the complete 90 minutes within the 3-3 draw on the Goffertstadion.
Within the ongoing marketing campaign, he has featured in 13 video games throughout all competitions for John van den Brom’s aspect, together with his commanding shows catching the attention of a number of golf equipment.
One of many golf equipment seeking to signal Nijstad is Chelsea, in keeping with TEAMtalk, which claims that the Blues have entered the race to signal the extremely rated Dutch expertise.
The report provides that the London giants are ‘actively working’ on a deal for the 18-year-old, alongside Manchester Metropolis, with their multiclub mannequin pathways thought of very important in getting the deal completed.
Prospect
Along with his deal operating out in 2027, Twente need to lengthen Nijstad’s contract however face a battle of their palms as a number of European high golf equipment, together with Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Tottenham, Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Brighton, and Brentford, in keeping with the report.
TEAMtalk provides that Barcelona, who’ve been pushing to signal the 6ft 3in centre-back however have been unwilling to satisfy his £8m valuation, at the moment are behind the pecking order as Chelsea have made ‘vital motion’ alongside Metropolis to land the defensive ace.
Standing at 6ft 3in, Nijstad is a perfect modern-day bodily centre-back profile, with qualities corresponding to tackles, aerial duels, and composure on the ball standing out within the Eredivisie since his breakout final 12 months.
Chelsea are already well-stocked with promising centre-back expertise throughout each their academy and senior setup, in addition to of their sister membership, Strasbourg.
Therefore, concentrating on a extra confirmed, established centre-back could be extra helpful to Liam Rosenior in fixing the membership’s speedy want, as Nijstad will nonetheless want ample time to grow to be the calls for of the Premier League.
