Chelsea boss Lampard admits two key players can leave in summer

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard hinted that both Antonio Rudiger and Ruben Loftus-cheek may leave in this transfer window.

Chelsea beat Barnsley by 6-0 in Carabao Cup third round match on Wednesday night. The fixture was highlighted by the hat-trick from new signing Kai Havertz, who scored his first goals for The Blues. Debuts for Thiago Silva and Ben Chilwell were also talking points in the Blues thumping victory.

As expected Lampard made plenty of changes for this fixture to give chance to fringe and squad players. But measure exclusions were Antonio Rudiger and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Both players failed to make the matchday squad of 18, which was a little surprise for the fans.

Antonio Rudiger has been completely dropped by Frank Lampard for the second match in a row. He was an unused substitution for Chelsea’s first fixture of this season against Brighton. He is fully fit and has played in both matches for Germany in September for Nation’s League fixtures.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek started in the first match of the season against Brighton but was substituted early due to bad performance. Since then he is also unavailable from Lampard’s matchday 18 players in the next two fixtures.

Chelsea will be looking to sell Loftus-Cheek on a permanent or loan deal in this transfer window. Premier League side Aston Villa have recently shown interest in a loan move for the Loftus-Cheek and Ross Barkley.

Aston Villa will consider a loan move for Chelsea's Ross Barkley. Ruben Loftus-Cheek another loan option but due to Premier League rules Villa will only be allowed one player from Chelsea on loan.

— Frank Khalid (@FrankKhalidUK) September 24, 2020

Both Rudiger and Loftus-Cheek were expected to play against Barnsley on Wednesday. But it is now clear that Lampard has made up his mind on this season’s squad for league and cup matches.

Interest in Antonio Rudiger is high in this transfer market

There will be plenty of options for the 27-year-old German International if he decides to leave in this transfer window.

According to German outlet Kicker, La Liga giants Barcelona strongly interested in Rudiger. Rudiger’s former club AS Roma also in the market for the new center-back and keeping tabs on Rudiger. French giants Paris Saint Germain are reportedly interested in a loan move for Antonio Rudiger.

Last week Frank Lampard made it clear that Rudiger is his fifth-choice center-back at Stamford Bridge. Thiago Silva, Kurt Zouma, Andreas Christiansen, and Fiyako Tomori all are ahead of Rudiger in the pecking order in Lampard’s defense.

In the post-match conference after the Barnsley game, Lampard was still undecided on the future of Antonio Rudiger. He stated that it’s too early in the season to make any decisions on Rudiger’s future.

“That he (Rudiger) was not in the squad, that’s just a choice at the moment; with the center-halves I have I can’t have them all in the squad, Yes, there may be movement in the squad, we know that, but nothing is concrete so don’t read too much into those selections at the minute. It will have to be things that are right for the club, the individual, and me, in terms of what happens in the next couple of weeks.” – Frank Lampard on Antonio Rudiger