Thomas Tuchel wants Dujon Sterling in Chelsea first team to deal with Antonio Rudiger exit. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)
According to Goal (h/t Metro), Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel wants Dujon Sterling to be in the first team next season to deal with the exit of Antonio Rudiger this summer. The latter is expected to join Real Madrid on a free transfer at the end of this term.
Tuchel has already confirmed that Rudiger will be leaving Stamford Bridge after the current campaign. He will join Andreas Christensen, who is believed to have a pre-contract agreement with Barcelona. Cesar Azpilicueta’s future is surrounded by uncertainty as well, making life even more difficult for them.
In such a case, the German boss has turned his attention towards Sterling to deal with the defensive exodus. The latter is primarily a right-back, but he has played on the opposite end and as a central defender when needed. More importantly, the 22-year-old offers Tuchel the option to use Reece James in the three at the back system as he has done in recent times.
Sterling did make quite an impression in his last loan spell at Blackpool before an unfortunate injury ended his progress. However, the Englishman has showcased all the signs that he is ready to enjoy more minutes with the senior team looking at his recent performances in the Championship.
Perhaps Rudiger’s departure could hand Sterling the breakthrough that he has been looking for at the West London side. However, he should be in our team regardless, considering how James does not have an ideal backup within the squad. Azpilicueta has deputised in that role, but he is more suited as centre-back, and his future is in uncertain waters as well.
Hence, it would be best if we turn our attention to natural replacements like Levi Colwill, for example, to help in this regard. At the same time, we must only use the academy stars to help us when needed rather than regularly depending on them moving forward.
After all, it would not be wise to depend on prospects like Sterling out of the blue without properly transitioning them into a first-team regular. Potentially replacing three centre-backs is a stern challenge indeed, but we must bring experienced players to deal with such departures.
As such, it is good to know that Tuchel still plans to make a left-sided centre-back his priority signing this summer. That being said, having someone like Sterling in our ranks would help in this dire situation as we would not incur massive expenses to deal with the potential defensive crisis.
We remain hopeful that the club will be ready to address these problems as they could be detrimental to our success if left unresolved. Moreover, we should also take care of these issues properly to not waste all the ground we have covered so far.
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