First words: Rüdiger thanks Chelsea fans for their patience, looks forward to working with Conte

There are a little under eight weeks left in the transfer window, but pre-season is already underway, with today (Monday) marking the start of preparations for the 2017-18 season. Perfect timing then for Antonio Rüdiger’s arrival, though one that many are hoping is just the first of several big signings this summer.

Rüdiger’s transfer looked all but done ten days ago, but the last few steps, including the medical and the filming of the apparently now requisite cringey announcement video sure took a while. The 24-year-old seemed to acknowledge this silly delay in his first interview as a Chelsea player, thanking the Chelsea fans for their patience before promising to try to give 100 per cent, 100 per cent of the time.

If we’re talking clichés, Rüdiger’s first interview is refreshingly devoid of them, by and large. He of course looks forward to the challenge of the Premier League, the honor of playing for a club like Chelsea, etc, etc. But he also seems genuinely excited to play for Antonio Conte while also being very much at ease in talking about his own qualities (“...and I’m also not slow”) and even the rumors themselves, which had linked him with Chelsea for 2-3 years now.

His English is also very good, though that’s not all that surprising from the youth of today. The full interview is up on Chelsea official and is free to view but not embeddable, so you’ll have to click over.

Rüdiger also jumped on his Instagram to say a few nice words not only to his old club and their fans, but also to announce himself personally to his new Chelsea family. “Very happy”, “let’s do this” — sounds good.

Meanwhile, Roma, who confirmed that the final price was €35m with €4m in bonuses — so right in the Chelsea sweet-spot for transfer fees — posted this nice sizzle reel of their former defender.

Welcome, Rudi.

Get hyped!