Manchester United have reportedly been given a boost as Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger is in no hurry to accept transfer offers from foreign clubs.
The Germany international is heading towards being a free agent this summer, and one imagines there will be a whole host of suitors queuing up to sign him on a free transfer.
According to Sky Sports, Man Utd are one of the clubs who could be in for Rudiger due to Ralf Rangnick’s connections with the player, who has been a world class performer at Stamford Bridge.
Rudiger would surely be an upgrade on United’s current defenders, with Harry Maguire having a poor season, while Raphael Varane has been slow to settle, partly due to injury problems.
Interestingly, Sky’s report includes quotes from Dharmesh Sheth, who says that Rudiger is seemingly ready to take his time on deciding his future, which could open the door to Premier League clubs, who cannot open talks with him until the summer.
“As far as I’m aware now, Rudiger is in no rush to sign a pre-contract agreement with a foreign club this month. Earlier this week we did say the likes of Real Madrid, Juventus, PSG and Bayern Munich had all made contact with Rudiger’s representatives about a pre-contract. We are now told Barcelona are just keeping an eye on Rudiger’s situation, as well as their own situation to see if they could do such a deal,” Sheth said.
“But Rudiger is aware there could yet be Premier League interest in him and the thing with Premier League interest is, if they want to sign him on a free transfer, they can’t talk to him now. They have to wait until the summer, hence why he will assess all of his options.”
This is surely encouraging for United, though of course it would likely also open the door for other top English clubs.
Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside earlier this week, ex-Red Devil Luke Chadwick made it clear he’d welcome the signing of Rudiger at Old Trafford.
“Rudiger is the sort of defender United need at the moment,” Chadwick said. “He’s improved so much over the last 18 months in terms of his ball carrying, he’d add a lot to this United squad.