Antonio Rüdiger taking his time on Chelsea contract decision — report

Antonio Rüdiger should have few complaints about life at Chelsea since the second half of last season, when he once again became a regular starting presence following the appointment of Thomas Tuchel to replace Frank Lampard. Rüdiger has been a key player ever since, including the entirety of our winning run in the Champions League.

Still the 28-year-old is taking his time on deciding on whether his journey should continue at Stamford Bridge, even as his contract gets closer and closer to its expiration at the end of this season. According to Sport1, it has been a month since talks between Toni’s representative, Sahr Senesie, and Chelsea director Marino Granovskaia have begun about an extension, but there’s been no real progress.

In addition to the uncertainties engendered by the extreme shifts and changes in Toni’s squad status, there are apparently some financial considerations that are also causing this indecision. He is currently not among the highest earners at the club, despite his importance.

Sport 1 claim that Chelsea will have to “stretch” our wage bill quite to accommodate and convince Rüdiger, with perhaps as much as a 50 per cent wage rise. Considering that this is probably Toni’s last big contract of his playing career, and with potential interest from the likes of PSG and Real Madrid, we might have to indeed open up the purse strings a bit, if we want to keep him.