Rating Chelsea’s summer signings after bizarre transfer window

After a bizarre summer transfer window for Chelsea, let’s take a step back to run down the new arrivals at Stamford Bridge and grade the moves.

Antonio Rudiger – C

Chelsea forked out a massive £32m on signing Stuttgart’s Antonio Rudiger and this was a signing which raised two important questions.

Firstly, what does this signing represent for the future of Andreas Christensen? Second, Rudiger seems quite similar to Kurt Zouma, so why is the club paying £30 odd million for the guy?

It is true that the German does share some similarities with Zouma; they’re both quick and strong. Also, they are not the most comfortable players on the ball either.

One thing which Rudiger clearly lacks or hasn’t shown enough of so far in his short Chelsea career is the ability to make a crisp and clean sliding tackle – something which Zouma did time and again to bail out Cahill.

Hence, the decision to send out Zouma on loan to Stoke City rightly baffles all Chelsea fans. In addition to that, Rudiger had an average campaign on loan with Roma last season, with injuries plaguing his season and restricting his playing time. He made only 26 appearances in the end.

This represents a strange deal on the board’s behalf. Nevertheless the player has shown great heart whenever he’s crossed the white line for Chelsea.