After setting sights on Aubsburg's left-back Baba Rahman as a substitute for Brazilian international Filipe Luis, Chelsea and José Mourinho seem to be on the move to acquire another young defender from Bundesliga. A report from a local Stuttgart newspaper says that Chelsea is after VfB Stuttgart's Antonio Rüdiger, a 22 years old German centre-back with 6 appearances for the national team. Wolfsburg is also believed to be in the chase.
According to the newspaper, José Mourinho sees Rüdiger as a successor to John Terry, who has had a memorable season with Chelsea, featuring in every minute of the club's league-winning campaign. But Terry is 34, and is already showing some signs of slowing down. Sooner than later, he'll need to be replaced.
The rumoured bid to take Rüdiger out of Stuttgart is believed to be around €18 million, which seems reasonable for a young German international player despite him being featured in a team which finished 14th place in Bundesliga with one of the league's most porous defences. The highlight video below (skip to 1:12) shows some athleticism but a lot of scrambling around in something like panic, perhaps in part due to his teammates.
With Varane seemingly off the table and the John Stones rumours coming up, it seems that Chelsea is looking beyond John Terry's legendary tenure. Here's hoping we have a transition as smooth as we had from Cech to Courtois.