‘Everything is done’ for Antonio Rüdiger’s transfer from Roma to Chelsea — report

It’s hard to call a €33m (+€5m in bonuses) transfer an opportunistic deal, but by all accounts, that’s basically what has happened with Antonio Rüdiger and Chelsea Football Club. The man who was arguably the best center back at Roma last season looks ready to join Chelsea 12 months after our initial interest was rebuffed by an untimely injury but just 12 hours after the first rumors broke of Chelsea once again being interested in the 24-year-old.

Chelsea had been happily and futilely chasing the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Leonardo Bonucci, but then in a moment of clarity, dialed up a certain Kostas Manolas, whose proposed transfer (at less than half of what Southampton may be asking for VvD) to Zenit St. Petersburg was on the verge of collapse. Chelsea’s call may or may not have prodded the ultimate end to that, but either way, the center back was back in Rome who suddenly were once again facing an FFP crisis. They had hoped to solve that by selling Manolas, but with that deal off the table, Chelsea swooped in to the rescue. Except Chelsea didn’t want Manolas, who’s also good, but we wanted the younger, tough-tackling German international.

That’s the story filtering through the grapevine. It’s a pretty good story. Is it true? Possibly. What we do know — at least as much as one can “know” anything in the transfer market — is that Rüdiger looks set for Chelsea, including a medical after tomorrow’s Confederations Cup final (where Germany will take on Chile), and then a quick signature on the bottom line.

The Oracle knows.

It’s happening.