According to reports in the Daily Telegraph, Chelsea are on the verge of completing a £30m deal to sign AS Roma centre-back Antonio Rudiger.

Blues manager Antonio Conte is keen to sign a new central defender this summer and the £20m departure of Nathan Ake to Bournemouth on Friday seems to have paved the way for the Germany international to arrive at Stamford Bridge.

The 24-year-old has been a regular for the Serie A giants over the course of the last two seasons and he made 36 appearances in all competitions for Roma last term.

The German, who can also play at full-back, would likely compete with Cesar Azpilicueta for the right centre-back role in the three-man defence that Conte preferred in the club’s title-winning Premier League campaign.

Chelsea supporters were quick to have their say on the rumour via social media, and the general consensus was that the Blues could have kept Ake and not spent £10m more to replace the Dutchman, while others believe that Kurt Zouma is better.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

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