Chelsea linked with move for Antonio Rudiger

Chelsea are lining up a bid to sign German defender Antonio Rudiger from Serie A side AS Roma, according to Italian journalist Emanuele Giulianelli.

Twitter: Chelsea decisive move for Rüdiger. Blues ready to offer about €27mln to Roma, 5 years deal for the player. #cfc (@EmaGiulianelli)

The 23-year-old spent last season on loan at Roma from VfB Stuttgart. Roma paid €4million to have him for the season with an agreed clause that allowed them to sign him permanently for a further €9million. They activated that option and gave him a four-year contract.

However, it is being suggested that Roma might not want to keep the German international for themselves and that instead, they took up the option to buy him purely to make a huge profit.

If Giulianelli’s figures are correct, they could make around €14million by selling him to Chelsea even though they’ve only just purchased him.

With John Terry coming to the end of his career and with Kurt Zouma out injured, it makes sense for the Blues to be looking for a new defender and Rudiger is a quality option.