Chelsea cede ground in contract talks with Antonio Rudiger
According to Nizaar Kinsella of GOAL via Absolute Chelsea on Twitter (h/t Football.London), Chelsea have finally decided to offer a new contract to Antonio Rudiger that is close to his wage demands. This update would give a sigh of relief to Thomas Tuchel as the summer transfer window draws closer.
Rudiger has less than six months left on his current contract at Stamford Bridge which has rung alarm bells among the fanbase. He has arguably been our best defender since Tuchel took over as manager from Frank Lampard. Moreover, his commanding presence at the backline has helped us to achieve success in such a short period.
The German defender wants a salary package of around £200,000-per-week which has been a point of contention for quite some time. The Blues seem to have finally accepted that they need to propose a deal closer to the demands made by the centre-back.
Thank Goodness!
We simply cannot emphasise how important the 28-year-old defender is to our team’s success moving forward. The fact that Tuchel has continued to depend on his services would be enough of a reason to back that opinion. After all, the boss has dropped Andreas Christensen to the bench, who is in the same boat as Rudiger, to force him to extend his deal.
That shows that the Blues manager cannot afford to bench Rudiger just as he did with Christensen. Following this piece of news, let’s hope that an agreement can be reached as soon as possible to finally put the uncertainty to bed. That being said, we have not accepted the demands made by the German star.
We are looking to offer a deal close to that amount which could create issues in the future. That is if Rudiger would still decide to hold out on his demands ahead of next summer. Let’s hope that is not the case as we near the end of the season.
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Cesar Azpilicueta is also in line to become a free agent in the summer transfer window. With three centre-backs potentially at risk of leaving after this season, it showcases the importance of solving the problem as soon as possible. Whether Rudiger will help to protect our interests by renewing his deal or not remains to be seen.