Only a few months separate certain players from the end of their current contracts, with Chelsea’s excellent central defender, Antonio Rudiger, falling into that bracket.
Although it’s believed the player would rather stay at Stamford Bridge, it seems abundantly clear that he expects to be paid commensurate to his standing within the squad.
Metaphorically and actually, he’s been Chelsea’s best defender for a while now.
If certain reports are accurate and an uplift of more than 100 percent on his weekly salary is what’s required for him to sign, then it’s perhaps understandable that the Blues are taking their time.
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Bild’s Christian Falk tweeted that somewhere in the region of £230k-£290k per week was Rudiger’s demand, with his current salary, per SpotRac, at £100k per week.
NOT TRUE? is that @ToniRuediger wants a salary of 400000£ a week (19,2 Mio per year). But: Rüdiger demands more than the offer of @ChelseaFC of 8,5 Mio per year. willingness to negotiate: 12 til 15 Mio £ pic.twitter.com/jgexQQthyY
— Christian Falk (@cfbayern) December 15, 2021
However, as Sky Sports report, it appears that talks have completely broken off for now, and that’s as good a sign as any that Chelsea aren’t willing to pay Rudiger what he wants.
There’s little point of playing brinksmanship at this stage of proceedings. A Chelsea back-line sans Rudiger is one that’ll be a lot less solid than one with him at the heart.
The Blues really are playing with fire if they expect their man to just dismiss the interests of other clubs because of his loyalty to them.