Chelsea are slowly but surely getting down to business this summer – which is great news for their patient fans and fantasy football managers alike.
Germany international Antonio Rudiger is edging ever closer to completing a £30million switch to Stamford Bridge, and looks set to fill the defensive gap left by John Terry’s departure to Aston Villa this week.
Dream Team 2017/18
How does the game work?
- This year’s fantasy football game will be absolutely FREE for all players to play
- The total prize pot is an approximated £750,000
- Game Weeks will run from Friday to Thursday
- £50m budget on 11 eligible players
Antonio Conte has been desperate for new players this summer, with Rudiger likely to be the Italian’s first major signing of the transfer window.
According to reports, Rudiger will sign a five-year contract with the Premier League champions, and will be unveiled very soon.
The centre-back will move to London on the back of a successful Confederations Cup campaign for Germany earlier this month, with Rudiger establishing himself as a regular starter for Die Mannschaft in the last year.
At club level, he made 40 appearances for Roma last season, helping the Italian side to a runners-up finish in Serie A behind Juventus and automatic qualification for the Champions League.
Roma have already lost Mohamed Salah to the Premier League this summer, with Liverpool snapping up the Egyptian winger.
Legendary midfielder Francesco Totti also left the club, leaving a sizeable gap and legacy.
What could this mean for your fantasy football team?
Securing Rudiger is a decent coup for Conte, with Manchester City and AC Milan rumoured to be eyeing the defender this summer.
The hard-tackling centre-back has been an integral member of Roma’s side over the last couple of seasons, and is clearly ready to challenge himself in England on the back off last season.
Using WhoScored, Dream Team’s rating system provider, we can see that Rudiger had a solid campaign in Serie A last season, with an overall rating of 6.82 across all competitions.
Rudiger will likely provide cover to Chelsea’s back-three of David Luiz, Gary Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta, with defensive back-ups Terry and Nathan Ake departing the club for Villa and Bournemouth respectively.
With Chelsea boasting the league’s best defence during their title-winning season, it will certainly be a challenge for Rudiger to break into the side.
But if you fancy picking the high-rated German for your Dream Team, then we reckon he’ll cost you around the same amount as last season’s new boy Eric Bailly (£3.5m).
He might be worth a punt, with Bailly among the biggest surprises on the game during 2016-17.
When can I sign up?
You can start getting your teams in as early as July 7 2017 – some five weeks before the Premier League season gets underway.
That gives you a nice long time to monitor the transfer market and choose your team accordingly – with Chelsea set to make more new signings as the summer goes on (we hope).
Keep up to date with all the latest fantasy football news with our fantasy football live blog and sign up to Dream Team here.