SANCHEZ FEELING SICK

CURSE OF TITLE WINNERS Rudiger’s striking pedigree

ANTONIO CONTE fears he will be the third boss in successive seasons to be sacked by the defending Premier League champions. ANTONIO RUDIGER could be Chelsea’s secret weapon in attack this season.

The £34million centre-back revealed he started life as a striker before establishing himself as a top defender.

But Rudiger (above), now preparing to take on the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Jamie Vardy, could easily have been in their shoes instead.

“I started off as a striker.” said the former Roma star, 24. “But that changed at the age of 16. Before, I was not a tall guy. I was small. So I used to play on the wings or as a striker.

“Then, at the age of 16, I started growing and my coach decided to let me play in defence.

“Now you need to prepare for a physical game. There are a lot strikers – Vardy, Lukaku – where you look at them and it is a challenge. The whole league is a challenge.”

Rudiger arrives at the Bridge from Italy and is still angry at the level of racism in Serie A.

He added: “I want FIFA or the FA in Italy just to suspend those people who do that. Those people need to be banned from the stadium or fined.

“You have to be strong. But each human is different. Someone takes it and doesn’t react. Others react. I can understand both.” return to pre-season – scheduled for this morning – into doubt amid suspicions that he is trying to work a very expensive ticket to Manchester City.

But his general wellbeing would not have been helped at the news that his colleagues – led by Theo Walcott – made the Portuguese champs look like chumps.

A bumper holiday crowd of 55,000 were treated to a five-star show as an Arsenal team that was by no means at full strength laid down a marker ahead of next weekend’s re-run of the FA Cup final against Chelsea in the Community Shield. They scored five, could have had more and those who attend today will see new £52million signing Alexandre Lacazette strut his stuff against Seville. The club record buy did take his first bow for the final 15 minutes yesterday, but by the time he strode onto the pitch the result was beyond question. And afterwards