Antonio Rudiger signs for Chelsea in £31m deal as defender agrees five-year contract

 

Defender Antonio Rudiger has signed for Chelsea from Roma in a deal worth £31m.

The 24-year-old has penned a five year deal with the Stamford Bridge outfit. Rudiger underwent a medical on Sunday before he finalised his move to the Premier League champions.

The initial fee for Rudiger is £31m - but the deal is packed full of additional payments which could take the overall fee to £35m.

Defender Antonio Rudiger has signed for Chelsea from Roma in a deal worth £31m

The 24-year-old has signed a five-year contract with the Premier League champions

ANTONIO RUDIGER IN NUMBERS 

72 - number of appearances across all competitions made by Rudiger for Roma.

7,650,000 - the transfer fee, in pounds, paid by Roma to Stuttgart for his services in July 2016.

12 - number of goals he has scored in his professional career.

6 - number of red cards Rudiger has received in his career.

122 - combined number of games the German has played in the Bundesliga and Serie A.

18 - Rudiger was 18 years, four months and 20 days old when he made his professional debut for Stuttgart II.

0 - He is yet to win a major honour at club level.

17 - number of caps he has won for Germany.

4 - number of games the 24-year-old played in Germany's recent Confederations Cup-winning campaign.

34 - number of appearances he made for the Mannschaft's various youth sides (from under-18s right up to the under-21s).

190 - the centre-back stands 190cm tall.

After the move, Rudiger told Chelsea's official website: 'It’s a great feeling because not every player has the opportunity to join a huge club like this.

'I am looking forward to meeting up with my new team-mates and I’m very proud to officially become a Chelsea player.’

The Blues announced the deal in unique fashion, posting a video on Twitter of a young boy asking his father if he can get Rudiger on the back of his Chelsea shirt in the club store.

The father replies: 'You know you can't have the name of someone who hasn't actually signed yet.'

The young Chelsea fan insists he wants Rudiger's name on his shirt before the woman working at the Chelsea store goes into another room and asks an off camera figure: 'Excuse me, is it alright if this fan puts your name on the back of his shirt?'

All of a sudden, Rudiger appears and replies: 'No problem, I am a Chelsea player now.' 

Chelsea announced the news via a video of a young fan getting a shirt from the club store

The young Chelsea fan asks his father if he can get Rudiger's name on the back of his shirt

The woman working behind the counter asks Rudiger if the boy can have his name on the shirt

At the end of the video, Rudiger appears, saying: 'No problem, I am a Chelsea player now'

The completion of the Rudiger deal comes as a boost after Conte's pursuit of other top targets Virgil van Dijk of Southampton and Juventus' Leonardo Bonucci proved difficult.

The Germany international, who played a key role in last week's Confederations Cup triumph for his country, wanted to leave Italy's Serie A after suffering racist abuse in the season just finished.

Rudiger was subjected to racial taunts from Lazio fans in the Rome derby back in March, so much so that the stadium announcer had to plea for calm.

And in December of last year, Lazio left back Senad Lulic sparked outrage with racial remarks about Rudiger following Roma's 2-0 win.

Lulic said: 'Two years ago, he was selling socks and belts in Stuttgart. Now he acts like he's some phenomenon.'

Lazio were forced to apologise for Lulic's comments at the time, but Rudiger was left upset after being repeatedly targeted.

The German international celebrates winning the Confederations Cup against Chile