Chelsea make 'powerful offer' for Barcelona defender viewed as Antonio Rudiger's replacement: Reports

Chelsea are reportedly interested in Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo as a potential replacement for Antonio Rudiger, whose career continues to be under intense speculation.

Sport report that Chelsea have prepared a 'powerful offer' for the 22-year-old as manager Thomas Tuchel targets the Uruguayan.

The youngster has been a regular fixture in the Barcelona squad since his introduction to the first team by former manager Ronald Koeman in 2020.

His run in the side has continued under current manager Xavi Hernandez as well. However the defender's contract runs until 2023 with reports suggesting contract talks have not been positive between Barca and the player.

Chelsea are reportedly not the only Premier League club interested in his services with Liverpool and Manchester United all linked with a move for Araujo.

Meanwhile, Rudiger's future continues to be spoken of away from the Stamford Bridge outfit. The player is enjoying another brilliant season under Tuchel but there has seemingly been no positive talks regarding a new deal.

Rudiger's contract runs out at the end of the season and he has been linked with some of Europe's top sides. These include Bayern Munich, Manchester United and even Barcelona themselves are reportedly interested in signing the German centre-back.

Would Barcelona's Araujo be a good replacement for Rudiger at Chelsea?

Since his introduction into the Barca squad, Araju has conjured up 47 senior appearances for the Catalan giants in La Liga.

Chelsea's interest in Araujo comes as no surprise given his fast rise and stablisation in Barca's squad. The defender is physically imposing and possesses great pace which will match the physical demands of playing Premier League football.

His tenacity and aggression is an attractive proposition. It is this style of play that perhaps has Tuchel considering the centre-back as a replacement for Rudiger.

The potential of playing in a back three with the likes of Thiago Silva and Trevor Chalobah could benefit Araujo. He is great at tracking attackers and winning one-on-one duels.

The Uruguayan definitely suits Premier League football and under Tuchel's guidance could develop into a world class defender for years to come.

His goal against Atletico Madrid on Sunday will only add to the growing increase in the defender.

About the author

Matthew is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who has been covering news, rumors and match reports for close to 3 years. Learning creative writing from University of Essex, he combined his skills and passion for football take up writing for the sport professionally.

Matthew always strives to go beyond a story and offer unique and lesser-known insights, while maintaining an unbiased tone in his articles. His reporting exploits at the company have helped him gain a humungous readership of 25 million, with one of his articles raking in a whopping 724,000 reads.

A Manchester United fan since childhood, Matthew admired Sir Alex Ferguson for his loyalty and brave coaching style. His favorite footballer is Thierry Henry, believing the Frenchman to be uniquely talented and charismatic. An ardent Three Lions fan, England's penalty shootout win over Colombia in 2018 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment of all time, and he believes that Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe will have a Ballon d’Or duopoly after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

He also follows his local EFL League Two clubs AFC Wimbledon and Sutton United, and spends his free time watching and writing about professional wrestling. He also likes to work out, watch movies and go for night outs.

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Edited by Aditya Singh