Chelsea are currently in their first transfer window of the Liam Rosenior eraplaceholder image
Chelsea are currently in their first transfer window of the Liam Rosenior era | Getty Images/ Canva
Chelsea are aiming to challenge for trophies under new boss Liam Rosenior
Rosenior is far from tried and tested in the Premier League with his only experience so far in English football coming with Derby County first as Wayne Rooney’s assistant before taking the reins himself for 12 matches, and at Hull City where he led the club to a 15th place finish in the Championship before narrowly missing out on the play-offs a year later.
The 43-year-old, however, has passed the test of proving he’s a competent manager at RC Strasbourg, a Ligue 1 side also owned by BlueCo.
Rosenior inherits a Chelsea team that have recently experienced a huge dip in form under Maresca that hasn’t improved under interim Calum McFarlane, but it’s still a hugely talented team that less than a year ago won both the Club World Cup and Conference League.
He’ll hope to lead Chelsea to silverware, progress as far in Europe as possible and ensure the Blues are competing in the continent’s elite competition again next year.
Chelsea linked with Real Madrid star Antonio Rudiger
Antonio Rudiger is set to make an important decision in his career as he weighs up whether to extend his Real Madrid contract that expires in 2026 or explore pastures new. Rudiger was one of Chelsea’s most notable departures in the summer leading up to Todd Boehly’s well-documented takeover of the club after Roman Abramovich's departure.
He joined Real Madrid as a free agent in 2022 and has racked up more than 160 appearances for the club while winning a league title and a Champions League. Rudiger featured heavily under Carlo Ancelotti and has started the majority of games under Xabi Alonso since coming back from a hamstring problem.
Why Rudiger could be the perfect signing for Chelsea
Rudiger has already proven that he’s perfectly suited to Chelsea once in his career. He joined the club for the first time in 2017 from AS Roma for a reported £29m and proved to be a shrewd acquisition making 203 appearances across all competitions and helping the team to win the FA Cup, Europa League and most notably the Champions League for just the second time in the club’s history.
The German international formed an excellent defensive partnership with Cesar Azpilicueta and later Thiago Silva, and was widely considered one of the best in the business.
Of course, Chelsea’s philosophy has mainly been to sign young prospects that they can develop such as Jorell Hato and Wesley Fofana or to promote them from the academy as is the case with Trevoh Chalobah and Levi Colwill. However, Rudiger could provide much-needed leadership and immediately improve those around him if he was signed for either a cut-price deal in January or on a free transfer in the summer.
He’s still 32-year-old and has a few years left in his career to benefit the team and could prove a shrewd signing in the early stages of Rosenior’s tenure at Stamford Bridge.
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