Barcelona 'interested in signing out-of-favour Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger'

Barcelona have emerged as one of the frontrunners to sign out-of-favour Chelsea centre back Antonio Rudiger.

The German international has been left out of Frank Lampard's last two matchday squads, including the 6-0 victory against Barnsley on Wednesday night when Thiago Silva made his debut for the club.

Rudiger's lack of action has alerted a number of top clubs across Europe and according to German outlet Kicker, Barca and former club Roma head that queue just a few weeks after Chelsea were considering offering Rudiger a contract extension.

The report details that though Rudiger's current deal does not expire until the summer of 2022, the Blues hierarchy were considering an extension.

Kicker also state that another unnamed European heavyweight are interested in Rudiger - Sportsmail reported on Wednesday that Ligue 1 champions PSG were keen on a season-long loan deal.

Still highly regarded across Europe and in the prime of his career at 27, Rudiger will seemingly not be short of suitors should he become available for transfer in the coming weeks.

The German international made 26 appearances in all competitions last season, but has fallen down the pecking order to fifth choice centre back at Stamford Bridge, behind Kurt Zouma, Andreas Christensen, Fikayo Tomori and new signing Silva.

It is now looking likely that Rudiger, who joined Chelsea in the summer of 2017 from Roma, will leave the club - whether on loan or via a permanent deal - before the October 5 transfer deadline.

Rudiger himself is keen to play regularly, as he wants to be a part of Joachim Low's Germany squad for next summer's European Championships.

He was sat on the bench for 90 minutes during Chelsea's opening league win against Brighton, but notably did not make the matchday squad of 18 for the defeat by Liverpool and Wednesday's EFL Cup win.

Lampard seemed to confirm on Wednesday that there could be further 'movement' on the transfer front: 'With the centre halves I can't have them all in the squad. I keep getting asked about the size of the squad.

'There might be movement, 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 which are right for the club and individuals and me and in terms of what happens in the next couple of weeks.'