Following the arrival of former Manchester City goalkeeper Wilfredo Caballero, Chelsea have today announced the second major signing of the summer in German centre back Antonio Rüdiger, who’s signed a five-year deal with the Blues.
It's official! Welcome to Chelsea, @ToniRuediger! #WelcomeRudi https://t.co/AgtH7QzFde
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) July 9, 2017
And following the footsteps of other clubs this summer, Chelsea also decided to get creative on their announcement of our brand new defender:
Which name would you get on the back of your @nikefootball Chelsea home shirt today? #WeAreThePride pic.twitter.com/WKmYxd2x0K
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) July 9, 2017
Rüdiger had been linked with a potential Chelsea transfer since summer 2015, after his last season at Stuttgart. That summer he moved to AS Roma on loan with an option to buy, which the Giallorossi duly exercised after Rüdiger became a staple of their defence, playing 37 games in his first season there.
Chelsea then came close to signing Rüdiger again in 2016, after Roma picked up the buy option and thought about quickly flipping him for a decent profit. But just as some reports started claiming that a deal was close, Rüdiger suffered a knee ligament injury while training for Euro 2016 with Germany and the deal was off. Impressively, Rüdiger managed to make a full recovery in just four months and would go on to make 35 appearances for Roma last season.
The summer of 2017 has thus proven to be third time the charm for Chelsea and Rüdiger. Although he is not an obvious upgrade like a Virgil van Dijk would be, he’s also not an obviously overpriced player like the Southampton centre back. Rüdiger arrives for less than half of Van Dijk’s asking price, for a reported £29 million fee with £4.3 in bonuses while taking the #2 shirt that was previously worn by Branislav Ivanovic. All in all, a good acquisition who will add quality to our current defensive options.
Welcome, another Antonio! Let’s win some things.