Chelsea set sights on FC Twente thrilling centre-back Ruud Nijstad

Chelsea have set their sights on FC Twente’s thrilling centre-back Ruud Nijstad over a doable transfer to Stamford Bridge, in line with TEAMtalk.

The 18-year-old is the most recent 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 choice to Robin Pröpper towards Heracles Almelo to assist his facet safe a 2–1 victory.

Nijstad then earned his first begin on 18 October 2025 in an away league match towards NEC Nijmegen, taking part in the total 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 facet, along with his commanding shows catching the attention of a number of golf equipment.

One of many golf equipment trying to signal Nijstad is Chelsea, in line 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 accomplished.

Prospect

Together with his deal operating out in 2027, Twente need to lengthen Nijstad’s contract however face a struggle of their arms as a number of European prime golf equipment, together with Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Tottenham, Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Brighton, and Brentford, in line with the report.

TEAMtalk provides that Barcelona, who’ve been pushing to signal the 6ft 3in centre-back however have been unwilling to fulfill his £8m valuation, at the moment are behind the pecking order as Chelsea have made ‘important motion’ alongside Metropolis to land the defensive ace.

Standing at 6ft 3in, Nijstad is a perfect modern-day bodily centre-back profile, with qualities equivalent 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 useful to Liam Rosenior in fixing the membership’s speedy want, as Nijstad will nonetheless want ample time to turn into the calls for of the Premier League.