Transfer News: Juventus brand Antonio Rudiger as the successor to ‘Giorgio Chiellini’ in an attempt to lure him from Chelsea
According to the Sun, Juventus have identified Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger as the potential successor to their veteran centre-back Giorgio Chiellini. The German international is set to be out of contract with the Blues at the end of the season and has been strongly linked with a move to the Turin-based club.
The current sanctions imposed on the club mean that the Blues aren’t allowed to negotiate any new deals or grant contract renewals to its players. This comes at the most unfortunate time as Cesar Azpilicueta and Andreas Christensen are also set to become free agents at the end of the season.
The 29-year-old has become a pivotal part of the backline since the arrival of Thomas Tuchel. His physical prowess and dominating presence in defence have been crucial to the West Londoners, who have achieved a lot of success in Europe recently.
It must be said that the possibility of Rudiger staying at Stamford Bridge past this season seems more and more unlikely with each passing day. There is no hiding that Tuchel admires the German international, given the defender’s consistent starts for the club this season despite his contract standoff.
What next for Rudiger?
The Bianconeri are trying to reassert themselves in Serie A after falling behind the pack to the likes of AC Milan and Inter Milan in the last couple of seasons. Juve did spend the big bucks to lure Matthijs de Ligt for an initial fee of £67.8m plus £9.47m in additional costs.
Despite beating several suitors to get their hands on the young defensive prodigy, the Dutch defender hasn’t been able to establish himself as one of the leading figures in the backline at the Allianz Stadium just yet. This, coupled with Chiellini’s ageing body, make for a nice mix for them to pursue a defender like Rudiger who is at the peak of his powers.
This could be a big blow for the Blues who have acquired recent success based on their solid defensive foundation. The thought of losing someone like Antonio Rudiger, that too on a free transfer amidst the current ownership situation, can put the club in a very tough situation.
The German international has been a regular starter for the clubs already raking in 191 appearances for the Blues to date, bagging 10 goals and providing seven assists in the process. His composure at the back has helped us on several occasions until now.
The former VfB Stuttgart player is also being linked to Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, with the names of Manchester United and Newcastle United also featuring in the fray. The club would be hoping that the 26-year-old defender can stay past his current contract. He is said to prefer the interest from Juve out of all the foreign teams.
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It remains to be seen if Rudiger can resist the temptation to be billed as the successor of one of the sport’s all-time greats in Chiellini, who recently lifted the UEFA Euros with Italy. If he had to stay at Chelsea, surely there would have been some news that affirmed his attention considering we are about to enter April in less than 5 days.
That being said, crazier things have happened in football and unless we see any official announcement from the club regarding Rudiger’s future, we cannot completely rule out the possibility of the defender staying at the Bridge beyond the summer.