PSG shoot their shot for Antonio Rüdiger, outbid Real Madrid, Chelsea — report

The Antonio Rüdiger sweepstakes are starting to hot up, with a report from Foot Mercato over the weekend claiming that PSG have made their offer, and it is indeed a spectacular one.

They are said to be offering an annual net salary of €7m, which roughly translates to a gross weekly salary of about £200-250k, for reference. That’s obviously a fair bit better than Chelsea’s last offer, made back in September, of £140k, and apparently also better than any offer from Real Madrid — who may or may not be still in this thing, despite Rüdiger’s supposed preference for them.

The report claims that it’s now a head (i.e. money) versus heart thing for the 28-year-old, not that it ever was going to be anything else. Does he choose money (PSG) or prestige (Real) or perhaps “connection and trust”, as Thomas Tuchel put it on Friday, ahead of our FA Cup third round match?

“He is a guy who needs to trust you. He needs to feel the connection and trust. He needs to feel it by minutes and actions. I don’t feel Toni needs a lot of words, coffee talks or invitations for dinners or whatever. He is a top professional. This is what he proves and nothing has changed.

“The talks are in good hands. I trust the club 100%, trust in the player and it is a no problem situation for me. [...] Nothing has changed, the points of view haven’t changed and once something changes. You will be the first to know.”

-Thomas Tuchel; source: Football.London

In trust we trust.