After losing Romelu Lukaku, Chelsea have reinforced their back line by signing Antonio Rudiger, and announced it in the form of a cheesy skit.
Chelsea fans may still be bitter that Manchester United hijacked their Romelu Lukaku signing, but Antonio Rudiger is a pretty nice consolation prize. According to a report from The Guardian, Rudiger agreed to a deal worth £34 million plus bonuses. He figures to be a vital contributor to a backline that was incredibly tough to break down.
When a new player arrives, the first thing fans typically want to do is buy their jersey. Not only have Chelsea made Rudiger’s shirt available in their stores, they even revealed he’ll be wearing the number 2 on his kit. It’s even got the diaeresis and everything.
To formally announce the signing, Chelsea had a child actor walk into the team store and buy Rudiger’s shirt. This is Oscar-winning stuff:
https://twitter.com/ChelseaFC/status/884064814150111233
Rudiger has spent the better part of his career playing for Stuttgart and AS Roma. At 24 years old, he is considered one of the bright young centre-backs in the world. He’s also just coming off a Confederations Cup win where he anchored a very inexperienced German team.
There’ll be no shortage of spots for Rudiger to compete with. Antonio Conte’s back three helped kickstart Chelsea’s title push, with David Luiz, Gary Cahill, and converted centre-back Cesar Azpilicueta all playing a key role. Finding a way to integrate him into the back three while keeping everyone happy will undoubtedly be one of Conte’s biggest challenges this season.
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Some Chelsea fans may still be upset over Lukaku, but there’s still a chance for them to have a successful transfer window. If they’re able to sign Alvaro Morata — who is arguably better than Lukaku — as well as Alex Sandro, that should be considered a big win. Even though repeating as champions is nearly impossible in the Premier League era, Chelsea have the necessary depth to pull it off. At the very least, this signing proves that they’re still a force to be reckoned with.