Rüdiger wants to win Premier League with Chelsea but ‘other people’ have to decide first

Antonio Rüdiger’s contract renewal saga rumbles on even as he continues to excel on the football pitch. And while the 28-year-old has made it clear recently that he won’t be talking about his future in the media, he did appear to hint after Saturday's Club World Cup final victory — a victory in which he was named the official Man of the Match — that the ball is in Chelsea’s court.

That is to say, we need to increase our offer.

“I feel great here, I have always said it. I think the way I play you can see that I’m happy here. But there are also other people who have to make decisions.”

While Chelsea have come much closer than before to meeting Rüdiger’s demands, which are said to be in the region of £200-225k per week, evidently we’re still not quite close enough. The Telegraph reported our latest offer as £170k, but even with whatever signing bonuses might be included, it’s apparently not quite enticing enough.

But re-signing Rüdiger remains a priority, so hopefully we can figure something out before the end of the season. It’s hard to not see him as a key part of any sort of “sustained title bid” that we may be targeting.

“Of course I want to win the Premier League.

“Does it keep getting better and better for me at Chelsea? Yes. We had never won this trophy (FIFA Club World Cup) in Chelsea’s history before. I’m very delighted that we didn’t give up, that we did our thing. We tried everything and won.

“I just want to help, I just want to be important and lead by example. This is the main thing. We all showed character against Palmeiras. None of us gave up. [...] The Premier League is the toughest competition to be honest because Manchester City set a very high standard. We have to get to a point where we can go on a long marathon.”

-Antonio Rüdiger; source: Athletic

Follow him into battle.