Chelsea are to announce the signing of Antonio Rudiger in the next 24 hours with the player currently undergoing medical at the club on Sunday (9 July). The defender has been an integral part of the Roma squad and will add some much needed depth to the Blues' defence, with Chelsea already parting with Nathan Ake in the current window.

The Mirror reports that a fee in the range of £34m ($45m) has been agreed with the Blues looking to pacify their fan base after losing out Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United. Manager Antonio Conte has identified Rudiger as an important part of the back three which currently has Gary Cahill, David Luiz and Cesar Azpilicueta as the first choice defenders.

More from Chelsea

Rudiger was an ever present figure in the Germany Confederations Cup starting XI which they won beating Chile in the final. The 24-year-old played four out of five games for his national team, only missing out on the opening group stage match against Chile, where Shkodran Mustafi made an error to gift Alexis Sanchez the opener. Rudiger replaced Mustafi post that incident and was an important part of the defence, giving him an outside chance of making the World Cup squad next year.

He would be Chelsea's second deal of the summer with the Blues having already completed the signing of Willy Caballero from the Citizens and are set for more potent transfers in the coming days. The Blues are also on the lookout for a striker after losing out on Lukaku and are believed to be in the hunt for Alvaro Morata, as reported by the Sun, after United moved out of the race for the Spaniard.

The Blues are confident of signing Alex Sandro from Juventus with the Italian champions revealing that they have received a substantial offer for the defender. Tiemoue Bakayoko is also one of the Blues' top targets but recent reports suggest that United are also interested in the midfielder and are trying to hijack the deal.

Chelsea FC Manchester United FC Premier League