Chelsea might be interested in granting Antonio Rudiger’s wish to play in the Premier League especially now since Antonio Conte moved to a 3-4-3 formation. Roma has a very similar approach to that of the Blues which makes the German international even more interesting than during the last couple of years. According to Metro, he has been on Chelsea’s radar for a while now and was even being monitored by the Blues under Jose Mourinho. Back then people saw him as the perfect partner for Kurt Zouma who was taking the Premier League by storm before his unfortunate injury. John Terry was rumored to be leaving as well and no one was thinking for a minute that David Luiz would return to Stamford Bridge. Even though things look good for the Chelsea defence presently the club are always looking at youngsters impressing at good sides around Europe.

Rudiger is strong but most importantly, is still learning and developing his game. Having someone so young yet already relatively experienced perform in a 3-4-3 formation could be priceless in the long run. The problem with the German is that despite his desire to join a Premier League team, he is still under contract with Roma until 2020. Aside from that there’s also the fact that AS Roma don’t have someone in their squad currently to replace him with thus making it even harder to negotiate. The Romans are looking to win the Serie A title so unless they are offered a decent solution, they will not sell. Ivanovic might come in handy in this case given the fact that he is not looking likely to sign an extension to keep him at Stamford Bridge and could possibly be used as part of a package to sign the youngster.

Rudiger did rupture his anterior cruciate ligament in training before Euro 2016 which caused him to miss the tournament. Unfortunately the injury meant that he was not able to add to the 10 caps he has to his name for his country last summer and he did miss most of the first few months of the season. The centre-back has since returned to full fitness and is not showing any ill effects these days having played the full 90 minutes in Roma’s last 3 Serie A games after being eased back into the starting line-up in late October and early November.

Chelsea do not need to make a move for a central defender at the moment as things are going rather well defensively with David Luiz and Gary Cahill plus Kurt Zouma is due back from his own ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in the near future and John Terry is only due to be sidelined for a further 2 weeks with his buttock injury. However, Antonio Rudiger does look like a solid player and it would not be a surprise to see Chelsea pursue him down the line once John Terry ends his legendary Chelsea career and/or if Zouma has trouble coming back from his ruptured ligament.