Who is Antonio Rudiger: Chelsea’s first summer signing
- Lorenzo Bettoni
The German is expected to have his medical tests with the Blues between Monday and Tuesday, becoming the first official summer signing of Antonio Conte’s Chelsea.
The 24-year-old is a versatile defender who can either play as a centre-back or as a defensive right-back. Chelsea came close to signing him last summer for € 25 million but the rock solid defender picked up a cruciate knee ligament injury which kept him out of action for several months, forcing him to skip Euro 2016.
Chelsea managed to complete his signing in less than 24 hours. The Blues were the quickest club to pounce on the player after that Manolas snubbed a move to Zenit failing to turn up for his medical. Chelsea knew Roma were desperate to sell one more of their players for a fee close to € 40 million and their opening offer was the right one to take Rudiger to the Stamford Bridge.
Rudiger will cost Chelsea € 38 million (€ 33m plus € 5 million in bonuses) and despite his young age, Antonio Conte has secured the services of a player who is already tested at an international level. The 24-year-old has already played in a three-man defence at Roma and he is expected to replace Gary Cahill in Chelsea’s line-up next season.
The German joined Roma on loan with option to buy in summer 2015 and one year ago the giallorossi made his move permanent for just € 9 million. Less than a week later, Rudiger picked up his knee injury and he made return to the pitch on the 26th of October.
His € 38 million signing is good worth for value. Thanks to his strong physical skills, in fact, Rudiger is likely to settle in well in the Premier League and his massive presence at the back does not make him a ‘dirty’ player given that he has only committed 48 fouls in the last Serie A season, being booked 7 times with one red card.
Rudiger has imposed as one of the best centre-backs in Italy under Luciano Spalletti and Antonio Conte can even improve the skills of the highly rated defender. His time in Italy was ruined by the some racist idiots who attend Serie A games at the stadium. The 24-year-old was racially abused at least twice last season: the first time in the Rome derby and the second time during Roma’s away game to the Meazza against Inter.
The German was even racially abused by one of his opponents (Lazio’s Senad Lulic) who literally said Rudiger: “Used to sell socks back in Stuttgart” during a post match interview following Lazio’s defeat at hands of Roma in a derby clash played last December.
During his time in Italy Rudiger has released several interviews claiming that the Italian FA doesn’t do enough to ban racists from Italian stadium and some reports claim the widespread racism in Italian football could be one of the reasons that have led Rudiger out of Roma.
What’s for sure is that Rudiger is not going to find the same atmosphere in England and that Chelsea have definitely improved their squad with the signing of the Germany International who will give Antonio Conte more options, more quality and more physical strength at the back.
Chelsea’s business in Italy, however, is likely not to be over with the signing of Rudiger as the Blues may finalize a deal to sign Alex Sandro from Juventus in the coming weeks. Meantime, Antonio Conte has secured the services of one of Serie A’s finest defenders.
(@lorebetto)