Everton put off by Chelsea summer demands for Rudiger – report
Everton checked on the availability of Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger over the summer but were put off over how much a loan deal would cost, according to The Athletic.
The Toffees instead signed Ben Godfrey from Norwich after learning how much Chelsea wanted for the 27-year-old defender.
The Athletic report that ‘Chelsea were telling interested parties the terms for a season-long loan included a £5 million fee plus full coverage of Rudiger’s wages, said to be worth around £150,000 per week’.
A season-long loan would have ended up costing Everton around £12.5 million, which is a frankly ridiculous amount to pay just to have a defender for nine months, especially as it seems the German international seemingly isn’t in Frank Lampard’s plans this season.
Rudiger is yet to feature for Chelsea this term, his last appearance came in the FA Cup final loss to Arsenal in August. He has fallen behind Kurt Zouma, Andreas Christensen, Thiago Silva and Fikayo Tomori in the pecking order at Stamford Bridge this season meaning his chances of game time are slim.
Godfrey signed for Everton from Norwich on October 5 and presented a better outlay for Everton as the 22-year-old has the potential to be a top-class Premier League player.
He was thrown into the deep end on his debut. Godfrey was brought on just 31 minutes into last weekend’s Merseyside derby after Seamus Coleman picked up a knock. The Englishman impressed in the game and performed well considering he was up against the current Premier League champions on his debut.
It makes financial sense that the Toffees elected to sign Godfrey instead of Rudiger and that decision seems to have paid off after Godrey’s impressive debut.
In other Everton news, ‘I was willing to give up a lot’ – Everton player takes to Twitter after transfer deal collapse.