Should John Ruddy consider a move to Chelsea?

Chelsea are in talks about signing Norwich and England keeper John Ruddy

According to Sky Sports, Chelsea officials are negotiating with Norwich over signing their England international keeper John Ruddy.

It is believed that Norwich have already turned down an offer of around £5million for the keeper, but are still in talks with the Blues over a prospective fee.

Needed

Chelsea needs to find a decent back up to undisputed number one Petr Cech. The Blues have lost the services of perennial benchwarmers Ross Turnbull and Hilario this summer, after their contracts with the club ended.

Neither keeper made much of an impact at Chelsea, but neither could with Cech always likely to dominate any prospective competitors. Hilario and Turnbull were perfect in that respect. They were never good enough to be Premier League number ones at a big club.

However, they were good enough to warm the bench in case of emergency. Now with both of the keepers off the Chelsea wage bill, the Blues will have to find another goalkeeper to take their place and it seems Ruddy is that man.

First choice

I have to say that ruddy has proven at Norwich that he is a very capable first choice keeper. He is not like Turnbull or Hilario. He looks to have enough talent to be a top-class goalkeeper. However, he will not develop that talent sitting on the Stamford Bridge substitute bench.

Ruddy could be yet another English goalkeeping talent that that goes AWOL. He would get little first team action at Chelsea. He may get to play in the league or FA Cup games, but unless Cech is injured, he is unlikely to play much of a part in the Premier League campaign.

Ruddy was at Everton for five years and made just one appearance after making a big move from Cambridge. He always had potential, but could not get past former-United keeper Tim Howard into the first team and his career ended up stagnating until his move to Norwich.

Replaceable

For Norwich, this could be a win-win situation. Ruddy is a good keeper with potential to get better, but the former-Everton ace was very ably replaced by Mark Bunn last season, when out injured. The Canaries have already brought in the experienced Carlo Nash as a back-up keeper.

Nash is unlikely to be a first choice at Carrow Road, even if Ruddy goes. If reports are to be believed then Norwich could receive up to £10million for Ruddy. That would be quite a profit for a player the Canaries got on a free transfer just three years ago.

With £10million, Norwich boss Chris Hughton could probably buy a very decent replacement and strengthen elsewhere in his squad. The Canaries have definitely not put the ‘not for sale’ sign up on Ruddy and the move to Chelsea looks very likely to happen.

Norwich seems like an ambitious club and the sale of Ruddy does not seem a necessity. If they do sell then I am sure that they will get a good deal from Chelsea.

England

Ruddy could be part of the England setup for a long time to come. He is obviously behind Manchester City’s Joe Hart in the pecking order, but he is considered one of the next keepers in line for the Three Lions number one jersey.

However, a move to Chelsea would ruin his chances of representing his country on a more regular basis. His chances are already very slim with Hart standing in his way of regular appearances for the Three Lions. A move to Chelsea would just kill off his hopes completely.

With the World Cup coming up next year I am sure that Ruddy would want to be playing regular first team football in the new season, so that he will be on the plane to Brazil next summer.

Ideal

It seems that the two clubs are keen to reach a compromise over the fee and that Ruddy could soon be given permission to speak to Chelsea. Ruddy would get far more money at Chelsea, but far less playing time.

John Ruddy moving to Chelsea seems ideal for everybody, except the player himself. His wallet may be expanded. However, his career would suffer.

Stay

At 26-years old, Ruddy is young in terms of goalkeepers and he still has time for a big money move in the future. For now though, I believe he would be better off staying at Norwich and being number one.

A move to Chelsea may prove too good to turn down though and the move could see him waste his talent sitting on the Chelsea. Only time will tell what will happen. I just hope John Ruddy will not be another promising English player that wastes his talent sitting on the bench of a big club just stagnating.

Should John Ruddy move to Chelsea?