Chelsea would only sign Arminia Bielefeld’s Amos Pieper as a squad player this summer, not as a replacement for Andreas Christensen or Antonio Rudiger.
That’s according to Fussball Transfers, who shoot down some of the English claims around the 24-year-old.
Recent reports in England have made it clear that Chelsea are looking at Pieper as they plan for the departures of Christensen and Rudiger.
Both defenders are set to move to Spain on free transfers in the summer, with the former joining Barcelona and the latter close to Real Madrid.
That will leave a huge hole in Chelsea’s defensive options, and reports in England stated that they were looking at Pieper to fill the void.
He’s available on a free in the summer, so could be something of a bargain, but Fussball Transfers have a different stance on the matter.
They cover the report but say that Pieper is ‘no replacement for Rudiger and Christensen’ and insist the Bundesliga player ‘would probably’ be more of a player to bolster the squad and ‘not a replacement’ for the two departing stars.
They do, however, say a move makes sense as Thomas Tuchel knows the player from his time as the coach at Borussia Dortmund.
Pieper was a part of Dortmund’s U19s and U23s during Tuchel’s time in charge of the Bundesliga side, meaning he is a player that the Chelsea coach should be aware of.
Now, they offer no clarification or backup for the reports in England, so we’ll have to take the transfer story with a pinch of salt for the time being.
However, what they are insistent on is that should Pieper arrive at Stamford Bridge this summer, it would be as a squad player and not as the Christensen/Rudiger replacement that has been claimed in those reports in England.
