Krishnan Sreekumar
Transfer News: Juventus enter race for Chelsea star Antonio Rudiger in blow for Manchester United
According to The Sun, Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger has been targeted by Juventus at the end of the season for a transfer swoop, which could impact Manchester United’s plans to snap up the star.
After a tough start to life at Stamford Bridge for Rudiger since he moved from AS Roma in 2017, the German has arguably been their best player over the past two years, being a rock at the back for the Blues and hardly missing a game for them.
With United needing defensive reinforcements at the back following a disappointing season, the 29-year-old would prove to be an impressive signing in the summer, given that he is out of contract at the end of the campaign and available as a free agent – as things stand.
However, their efforts to poach the defender from their domestic rivals have been spoiled by Juventus, who are spearheading a transfer swoop for the Chelsea star ahead of the new season. It is said that the Italian giants want him to lead their defence into a new era.
The Turin club has an ambitious plan for the Germany international if they sign him, with the Serie A giants looking at him as the man to ultimately take over from club legend Giorgio Chiellini. They are offering him the incentive of being the heartbeat of their rearguard, which seems to be working as Rudiger is believed to prefer the offer from Juventus over those of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Chiellini successor?
It seems to be a long-term plan that the Bianconeri have for him, with the expectation that the Italian legend will play one more season while helping Rudiger settle into the club. Juve are keen on Chiellini helping Rudiger adopt the Italy international’s mentality that has brought him much success in his career.
All this sounds like bad news for the Red Devils, who would be desperate for a defensive signing like that of Rudiger to solidify things at the back for the side next season. His experience in the Premier League would also have come in handy, apart from the fact that he could be available for free in the summer.
With the UK government imposing sanctions on Chelsea’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich, the Blues at the moment cannot negotiate new contracts until further notice. This means that the path to signing Rudiger was relatively free, but Juventus’s intervention looks to be a major transfer blow for United.
Club captain Harry Maguire, new signing Raphael Varane, and centre-back Victor Lindelof have been underwhelming this term, and cheap goals have been let in at the back which has seen us slip down the Premier League table and in danger of missing out on Champions League football next term.
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Juventus seem to have prepared an incentive-backed proposal to snap up Rudiger, but with the summer transfer window yet to open, United could come up with something even more attractive to convince the German to snub the Italians to stay in England. We would like to see our club put up a fight to land the defender, given how desperate fans would be to sign players to solidify the rearguard.
If he does sign for us in the near future, however unlikely one may think that may be right now, it won’t be the first time a Chelsea player would leave the Blues to directly join the Red Devils. Nemanja Matic and Juan Mata were the latest two players to make such a move and it is fair to say they had a decent first few years before eventually being sidelined on the fringes of the first team.
