Frank Lampard should "build a side" around Antonio Rudiger, according to Mario Melchiot, who has urged Chelsea to find a worthy "centre-back partner" for the German.
Rudiger has racked up 105 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea since completing a £29 million ($37m) move to Stamford Bridge from Roma in 2017.
Eighteen of those have come in 2019-20 but injuries issues have significantly limited his contribution, forcing Lampard to shuffle his pack.
Andreas Christensen, Kurt Zouma and Fikayo Tomori have all seen regular playing time in Rudiger's absence, but the Blues' have looked vulnerable at the back throughout their latest campaign, conceding 39 goals in their first 29 fixtures - more than any other top-six club.
Rudiger helped restore some defensive order after returning to full fitness before the coronavirus pandemic stopped play in March, and Melchiot would like to see his talents maximised when the Premier League restarts on June 17.
The ex-Chelsea right-back has also advised Lampard to bring in someone to complement Rudiger in the heart of the defence, telling 888 Sport: "He has a good standing at Chelsea and I like him as a player.
"He’s doing really well. He is very strong and came back well from his injury when others had a chance to take his place.
"The next step now is to build a side around him but it’s important to find a centre-back partner who is not like him. They can’t play the same way.
"They have to find someone who has the ability to defend but doesn’t defend like him.
"The two guys in the middle of the park should never be identical. Both should be strong, sure, but maybe a guy who is on a different scale technically whereas Rudiger is a guy who says 'don’t mess around with me.'"
Chelsea currently occupy the final Champions League spot in the top-flight standings, but only hold a three-point lead over fifth-placed Manchester United with nine fixtures left to play.
Although Melchiot admits to being "a little worried" about the Blues missing out on a place in Europe's elite competition, he expects his old club to get the job done and finish the season strongly out of necessity.
“It was always going to be an exciting race and now it depends on how teams kick-off," the former Netherlands international added.
"I expect Chelsea to start again just as well as everybody else but it’s like at the beginning of a season when you see smaller teams who don’t have an advantage financially: they tend to start off well.
"So that is the only thing I’m a little bit worried about but away from that I don’t see Chelsea having a problem because the Champions League is a must.”
