Real Madrid to tempt Antonio Rüdiger with status over money — report

Antonio Rüdiger’s contract is up at the end of the season, and unlike his fellow center back Andreas Christensen (soon, yeah?), he doesn’t look close to signing an extension, which would leave him free to start testing the market and talking with prospective new employers in January.

One of those teams is expected to be Real Madrid, who are hoping to tempt the 28-year-old less so with cold hard cash — his next contract will be big regardless of who’s signing the checks — and more so with prestige and exposure.

That’s according to a report from ABC, which claims that Rüdiger would consider Real as that one final step up in his career (of course Madrid-based media would say that). More pertinently, Real are apparently targeting the Germany international as the long-term replacement for one of their recently departed iconic center back duo, Sergio Ramos (now at PSG) and Raphaël Varane (now at Manchester United). Considering that one of the things said to be influencing Rüdiger’s current hesitation is the instability of his status and role at Chelsea over the past couple years, that could indeed be an excellent selling point.

No decision either way is expected until at least January.