Chelsea round-up: Club legend leaves; Confederations Cup winner expected to join; £100million striker top target

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Club legend John Terry has left Chelsea after 22 years with the Blues, as Aston Villa announced the signing of the England international on the club’s official website.

Terry joined the Villans on a free after his contract with Chelsea expired. Under Antonio Conte, the centre-back had a limited amount of game time as he only made nine Premier League appearances. The Italian manager settled on a back three of Gary Cahill, David Luiz and Cesar Azpilicueta, and it would be this trio that would help Chelsea towards their title victory.

Speaking about his move to Aston Villa, Terry said: “The mental side of playing against Chelsea was too much to get over for me. I was there for 22 years at the football club. I am very proud of that but this is a new chapter in my life and career,” as reported by BBC Sport and The Guardian.

With Terry heading out, Chelsea are expected to replace him with German centre-back Antonio Rudiger, who comes off the back of winning the Confederations Cup.

The Roma man fuelled speculation of a move after he liked an Instagram photo captioned: ‘Congrats brother next stop Chelsea’, as reported by the Metro. The picture has since been removed from the social media site, but it has done little to quash rumours of Rudiger’s move to the Blues.

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Despite Chelsea’s pursuit of Antonio Rudiger, he isn’t their number one target this summer. Antonio Conte has told the Blues’ board that he wants Romelu Lukaku to re-join the club, whatever the price, according to the Telegraph.

Everton value their Belgian striker at £100 million, but that hasn’t put Conte off. The Italian boss has already told Diego Costa that he isn’t part of his plans for next season, which has left Chelsea are short of options up front. This has made Lukaku a priority signing and Conte is confident that the Belgian will live up to any price tag.

Lukaku has already had a spell with his boyhood club, but he failed to find the back of the net, and he knows Eden Hazard, who will play alongside him in Chelsea’s 3-4-2-1 formation, well from the international scene. Conte is a fan of the 24-year-old too, as the Italian manager believes he fits perfectly into his favoured system.

If the former Anderlecht man was to join the Blues, he could become the world’s most expensive signing.

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