2.  ANTONIO RUDIGER

A tough tackler, Rudiger is quick on his feet and a commanding presence in the air. Having spent most of his career playing in central defence, he is equally comfortable at full-back.

Born in Berlin, Rudiger spent time in the youth set-up at Borussia Dortmund before moving to Stuttgart.

He made his Stuttgart debut in a 2012 game against Borussia Monchengladbach at the age of 18, and firmly established himself as a first-team regular during the 2013/14 campaign.

In 2015 he moved to Roma, initially on loan, and after a successful maiden season in Serie A the deal was made permanent.

Rudiger arrives at Stamford Bridge having acquired European experience in both the Champions League and Europa League.

He featured frequently for Germany at youth level and made his debut for the senior side in a friendly against Poland in May 2014.

Having been called up to the reigning world champions’ Euro 2016 squad, Rudiger subsequently missed the tournament through injury but he was a key performer in Germany's recent Confederations Cup victory in Russia. He was part of the defence which kept a clean sheet in the 1-0 win over Chile in lthe final.