Everton rejected chance to sign £150K-a-week Chelsea outcast in the summer transfer window | OneFootball

Everton had the chance to sign Antonio Rudiger on-loan from Chelsea before the transfer window closed. The Athletic have now revealed why the deal didn’t materialise.

Rudiger has fallen out of favour in Frank Lampard following the arrival of Thiago Silva in the summer transfer window.

With Andreas Christensen, Kurt Zouma and Fikayo Tomori all remaining in the Chelsea squad beyond the closure of the window, there simply is not enough minutes available for everyone.

Rudiger, who starts for the German national team, has been the man left out in the cold by Lampard, with The Athletic reporting that Chelsea were keen to part with him in the summer.

MORE: Video: Chelsea loanee Ross Barkley wins the game for Aston Villa with a stoppage time screamer

The report, written by the reliable David Ornstein, notes that Everton did look into the possibility of signing Rudiger on loan for the season. However, they deemed the deal financially unreasonable.

The Athletic claim that Chelsea wanted a £5M loan fee in exchange for Rudiger, while the Toffees would also have to pay his £150K-a-week wages in full.

Considering Rudiger would return to Chelsea at the season’s end if Everton did not choose to purchase him outright, you can see why Carlo Ancelotti didn’t jump at the opportunity.

It now remains to be seen whether Rudiger can force his way back into Lampard’s plans at Stamford Bridge, but by the look of things, he faces an uphill battle to do so.