Chelsea renew interest in German international defender - report

According to Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Chelsea are interested in taking AS Roma defender Antonio Rüdiger to the Stamford Bridge in the next transfer window.

This isn't the first time that Chelsea have been linked with the 23-year-old player, as Rüdiger was one of the names rumoured to have drawn interest from the Blues last summer transfer window when he was still playing with Bundesliga side Stuttgart. Ultimately, Roma were the ones who got the player, signing him on a one-year loan deal for a €4 million initial fee plus the option to make the move permanent for €9 million more.

La Repubblica reports that Roma would be willing to let go of Rüdiger for €20 million once they do take up the buy-option.  The newspaper also claims that future Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has a strong interest in bringing Rüdiger to the club following a good performance by the German international against the Italian national team in the 4-1 loss that Conte and the Azzurri suffered a few weeks ago.

In the current season, Rüdiger has started 23 league matches for Roma as a centre back, pairing up on most occasions with Greek defender Kostas Manolas - who's also been linked with Chelsea recently.  Rüdiger also accumulated 9 caps for the German national team under Joachim Löw's command, and was selected to start their last two matches against England and Italy as a central defender.

Despite that success, the general feeling is that Rüdiger hasn't exactly lit up the Serie A with his performances, although he's done enough to maintain his place as a starting defender for Roma throughout the season. With Chelsea in dire need of a revamp in defense, especially with exit rumours regarding Branislav Ivanovic and the lack of talks on John Terry's contract, betting on Rüdiger might not be a bad thing even though there might be better targets in the market at the same price range.