Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Chelsea may have missed out on the signing of Romelu Lukaku yesterday but they have managed to soften the blow somewhat with the announcement that they have signed German international defender Antonio Rudiger for a fee believed to be around £35m from Italian side AS Roma
The player was recently part of the squad which won the FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia which was his first major international tournament appearance after missing out on their Euro 2016 campaign due to a pre-tournament ACL injury
Chelsea have been linked with a whole host of centre backs over the past few weeks as manager Antonio Conte looks to bolster their ranks of the defending Premier League champions especially with both John Terry and Nathan Ake departing the club this summer.
Virgil Van Dijk has often been linked with the West London outfit but the West London club have balked at the £70m transfer fee that has been quoted by Southampton for the Dutch international and also recently the club were linked with another Roma player in the form of Kostas Manolas.
But it is Manolas’ club teammate that they have opted for as Rudiger has completed a move at the club earlier today, the defender and Chelsea boss know each other well after the time that Antonio Conte spent as manager of Italian giants Juventus
And with Rudiger keen to depart Italy due to repeated racist incidents against him it was apparent that a move to Chelsea was very much a realistic possibility. One possibility that has now become a reality after the 24 year old passed a medical a few hours ago.
The defender spent two season at the Stadico Olimpico for AS Roma and made 56 Serie A appearances, a first season saw him score twice for the club in 30 appearances while in the previous campaign there was slightly less football to his name with 26 matches played in comparison.
For Chelsea it gives Chelsea reinforcements at the back especially if they once again opt for a back three that was so successful last season, the hope will be that the arrival of Rudiger is not the only piece of business as they still look to sign Alex Sandro from Juventus for £61m
Not only that but they will still look to sign a new forward after losing out on the signing of Romelu Lukaku and the more than likely departure of Diego Costa, that said though there could still be a u-turn in Conte’s plans for the player should they not manage to add more attacking personnel.
They may have won the title last season but they have lost a step in this transfer window, this signing today will certainly rectify that position but they need to make sure they are not left behind by the quintet of clubs that will be looking to knock them off their perch.
