Chelsea put under pressure by agent of Antonio Rudiger to meet contract demands ahead of January transfer window
According to El Espanol (h/t The Express), Chelsea are being put under pressure by the agent of Antonio Rudiger to satisfy his contract demands ahead of the January transfer window.
The 28-year-old star has established himself as one of the key men under Thomas Tuchel. The Blues may be experiencing a slight stutter in form at the moment, but our progress over the last 12 months has been sound, and Rudiger has played a crucial part in it.
However, he would be out of contract next summer. And he would be eligible to sign a pre-contract with a foreign club in January. To add to that, the player’s agent is now putting pressure on Chelsea to satisfy his wage demands as he would otherwise sign an agreement with another club in January.
The centre-back is apparently demanding a salary between £230k-290k-per-week, according to Christian Falk of SportBild (h/t The Express). Real Madrid are in the race to sign him and Rudiger apparently prefers a move to the Spanish capital. However, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain are also in contention to land his services.
Wrong move by Rudiger?
The defender has been extremely professional even after news coming out that he may not be signing a new deal. He has been one of our best players during that time and has not done anything in the media to explicitly disrespect the club or the fans.
One of the reasons players opt for agents is to have someone who can handle the tough talk regarding money and finances. The agent’s sole purpose is to get the best deal for his client and himself. So, it isn’t really something out of the ordinary if the Blues are being asked to meet Rudiger’s wage demands by his agent.
If anything, it’s down to us on how we deal with the matter. There is no doubt that a club like us would want to keep a player like Rudiger in the ideal circumstances. Yet, here we are, and we have four of our main defenders out of contract next summer. Rudiger is at the peak of his powers currently and could continue playing at the top level for the next several years.
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Thus, his departure will leave a big gap in our defensive line. Regardless, these issues need to be discussed privately and in an amicable manner. Using the January transfer window as a negotiating tool to satisfy the contract demands is unlikely to go down well with Marina Granovskaia. But only time will tell where the German international’s future lies in 2022.
If the club doesn’t show a willingness to meet the German defender’s demands, and some other club does, then we can’t really blame the player or his agent completely for being disloyal to us. At the end of the day, business is a part of football and the players have as much right to look after their own best interest as the football club itself.