Antonio Rudiger has been on the fringes at Chelsea at the beginning of the season and speculation has now surfaced linking him with an English rival.
According to Sky Sports, Premier League side Tottenham are interested in signing the 27-year-old during this summer window.
It is claimed that the defender has been “considering his future” at Stamford Bridge due to his lack of game-time and Spurs have turned their attention to him as an alternative to Inter Milan’s Milan Skriniar.
The report explains that the Germany international would be willing to leave Chelsea on loan, but the Blues are “unlikely” to let players join their main Premier League rivals on temporary deals.
Rudiger, 27, has enjoyed some excellent spells of form during his three years in English football so far, but there have been a few issues with consistency and last season he spent time on the sidelines with a groin injury.
He is a powerhouse centre-back that leads from the back, but it appears manager Frank Lampard has lost faith in him based off his absence at the beginning of the new season.
The right-footed defender is yet to play a single minute in the club’s opening four games of the season and he only made the match day squad for one of them.
Rudiger’s future at Chelsea certainly seems unclear at present and it’s no surprise to see reports linking him with a move away, but surely allowing him to join rivals Spurs is a no-go.
The German won’t be content with no football during the next 12 months and he may need to go elsewhere to get minutes, as it looks like he’s stuck behind Thiago Silva, Kurt Zouma, Andreas Christensen and Fikayo Tomori in the centre-back pecking order.