Antonio Rudiger insists that Chelsea signing Timo Werner was a ‘good sign’ that the Blues are heading in the right direction.
The forward has been one of the top strikers in Germany over the past couple of seasons, and finished with an impressive 28 Bundesliga goals in the 2019/20 campaign.
Despite a strong link with Liverpool, it was the Blues who managed to snap him up, paying the £47.5million release clause to RB Leipzig.
Rudiger played a big part in convincing Werner that Chelsea was the right project for the 24-year-old, and the centre-back believes it proves the Blues are moving forward as a club.
“I think it is a good sign if you can get people like him in the club because he is also still young but he showed that he can score goals and I hope that he can do the same here than he did in Germany,” Rudiger said.
“I was one of the people who helped convince him to come here so it is also my job to help him. Of course, we speak the same language but he does speak very good English too.
“The thing is, with this job, and as a team, we all have to help him. We will do that for him, definitely.”
Rudiger’s connection with Werner goes back to their time playing together at Stuttgart.
The Chelsea man came through the youth team there before heading to Roma in 2016 on a permanent move after a loan spell there.
Werner was also an academy graduate, leaving the club during the same summer as Rudiger for Leipzig.
And Rudiger has described how Werner has adapted from his youth days to the prolific goalscorer he has become.
“At the beginning, it was not easy for him because he was only 17 when he came in the squad and he was a little kid, very thin and everything,” Rudiger said.
“But now, over time, I think he went to the gym because he is bigger!
“Yes, each year, you see how good his statistics are. Every year he scored more than the last and his qualities are in scoring goals.
“I hope he can do that for us but the most important thing is that he stays healthy and he adapts to many different things.”
