Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has been urged to use Antonio Rudiger as his defensive pillar during the 2020-21 season.
The German international joined the Premier League side in 2017 from AS Roma and after the departure of David Luiz, Rudiger is one of the most experienced defenders in the Chelsea squad right now.
And according to Mario Melchiot, Lampard should rely on the experience of the 27-year-old next season.
‘Rudiger has experience and has played at a great international level,’ Melchiot, speaking exclusively to 888Sport, via Metro.
‘He has a good standing at Chelsea and I like him as a player.
‘He’s doing really well. He is very strong and came back well from his injury when others had a chance to take his place.
‘The next step now is to build a side around him but it’s important to find a centre-back partner who is not like him. They can’t play the same way.’
‘They have to find someone who has the ability to defend but doesn’t defend like him. The two guys in the middle of the park should never be identical. Both should be strong sure but maybe a guy who is on a different scale technically whereas Rudiger is a guy who says “don’t mess around with me”.’
In April of last year, Antonio Rudiger underwent knee surgery and since then, he’s not been able to gather constant game time thanks to the lengthy recovery time.
The centre-back picked up a groin injury in September of last year due to which he was out for almost three months. This is why so far, Rudiger has managed to play in only 13 Premier League games which is why the manager will be a bit sceptical about using him as a constant feature in the first XI next season.
But at the same time, we do not think the Blues are too keen to sign a new central defender during the summer meaning Antonio Rudiger should be part of the starting XI from day one of the 2020-21 campaign.
