Chelsea target yet another Serie A defender

Chelsea are interested in Roma defender Antonio Rudiger

Posted Tuesday, October 25, 2016 by playingfor90.com

At this point, news of Chelsea's interest in a Serie A defender is almost a daily occurrence. The latest central defender rumored to have caught Antonio Conte's eye is Roma centre back Antonio Rudiger.

It's not just the sharing of a first name that has Conte interested in the young German international. Rudiger was widely considered to be one of Europe's most promising young central defenders before suffering an injury just before Euro 2016. That injury reportedly convinced Chelsea to move on to other targets instead of pursuing the Roma star this summer.

Rudiger has just regained his fitness for Roma, and as such, Chelsea are keen to evaluate him fully in advance of a potential January transfer. The bad news for the Blues is that Roma aren't in any hurry to part with their promising defender.

Their disposition to keep Rudiger won't dissuade Chelsea from making a bid though. The Premier League club are rumored to be considering an opening bid of ￡35 million to convince the Serie A power to part with Rudiger.

Predictably, Chelsea won't be the only club interested in Rudiger if he does hit the transfer market. Manchester United and Manchester City also come become factors in his recruitment. All three English clubs need to add young, defensive talent to their squads. Roma could find themselves with a profitable bidding war on their hands.

The only sure thing about Chelsea's quest for a young centre back at this point is that Antonio Conte won't give up without successfully wooing a target to Stamford Bridge. Time will tell whether or not Antonio Rudiger ends up playing for the former Italy boss.