Rüdiger ‘won’t rush’ into contract decision as Bayern Munich also register interest

Antonio Rüdiger’s contract is up at the end of the season. Negotiations over an extension have yet to produce an agreement, and a resolution probably won’t be found until later in the season.

The 28-year-old center back, who’s been one of the keystones to Chelsea’s defensive excellence under Thomas Tuchel, looks set to to test the market in January. And there certainly won’t be a shortage of suitors, with European football’s cream of the crop already lining up.

Real Madrid and PSG are said to be keeping an eye things, and they’ve now been joined by Bayern Munich, who have “registered” their interest by contacting Toni’s entourage. That’s according to a report from Goal, and also Bild (via Metro), who mention that Rüdiger is currently “leaning” towards staying with Chelsea. Whether he’d do so for (possibly substantially) less money than he might be offered elsewhere remains to be seen however.

Either way, he’s in no rush to make a decision. He holds all the cards, after all.

“The fact that I didn’t renew my contract when I was sitting in the stands is surely only logical for everyone. When I started playing regularly again, I wanted to wait and see how everything would develop here. As I had announced, after the long Champions League season and the European Championship, the first talks took place after I returned to training with Chelsea.

“So this is less than two months ago and for me this will be the most important decision of my professional career, so I won’t rush into anything. Personally, I haven’t spoken to any other club than Chelsea.”

-Antonio Rüdiger; source: SID via Goal

We’ll see what happens after the turn of the year, I suppose. Until then, hopefully Toni can continue performing at the highest of high levels as he’s been doing.