Antonio Rudiger has rejected Chelsea’s latest contract offer for an extension of his time at the club, giving his main suitors, Real Madrid, even more hope in their chances of signing him this summer.
The 28-year-old defender joined the Blues in 2017 from Roma for £27 million and has gone on to make 166 appearances in all official competitions for the Blues, scoring nine goals.
His appearance record could have been more robust if not for Frank Lampard who didn’t count on the defender during his year-and-half stint as Chelsea manager, even leading to exit rumours for Rudiger.
But Rudiger found favour again with Thomas Tuchel, becoming a key member of his compatriot’s Chelsea. No Chelsea player has played more minutes in all competitions for the club this season than Rudiger, leading to renewal talks which have not progressed until now.
The 28-year-old centre-back’s contract at Stamford Bridge will expire this summer and Goal reports that Chelsea’s latest offer to Rudiger was around £7million per year (£140,000 per week), much less than his teammates Timo Werner, Thiago Silva, Kai Havertz and Romelu Lukaku.
Reports coming from Spain claim that Rudiger is looking for around £10m per year (£210,000 per week), which Real Madrid is prepared to offer the rejuvenated defender when his current deal runs out at Chelsea.
Thomas Tuchel calm about the Rudiger situation
Chelsea manager, Thomas Tuchel, whose trust in the defender has made him into a mainstay at the club and one of the Premier League’s scariest defender is calm about the situation and also wants him to stay.
“We know that [he can speak to foreign clubs in January], of course,” Tuchel said at the beginning of November. “It is pretty clear what we want but it is not like this in football when the coach or club wants something and things happen.
“You have to accept that sometimes it can arrive and you end up in situations where things are in a bit of a delay and take time but I am very, very sure that Toni feels also how respected and what an important role he plays in this club.
“I’m calm because I feel Toni is calm. I feel the situation here is calm inside and from here we go.”
Transfer insider, Fabrizio Romano has reported that the German defender would love to remain at Stamford Bridge but the club’s offer is not acceptable amid interest from Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich.
Chelsea in danger of losing their whole defense in June
Andreas Christensen is also an important player under Tuchel and is in a similar contract standoff situation with Antonio Rudiger.
The 25-year-old Denmark international has been at Chelsea since his teens, when he joined the club’s academy from Brøndby in the Danish league almost a decade ago.
Malang Sarr is down the pecking order of defenders at Chelsea but is also looking for an exit route out of the club via a long-term loan option in January according to his agent Federico Pasterello (via Gazzetta dello Sport).
Veteran defenders, club captain Cesar Azpilicueta and Thiago Silva are also out of contract in June which has placed a lot of pressure on the club’s management.
Chelsea, however, are linked with a number of high-profile centre-backs including Barcelona’s Ronald Araujo, Sevilla’s Jules Kounde and Fenerbahçe’s Attila Szalai.
