Antonio Rüdiger, Real Madrid agree four-year deal — report

The cat is out of the bag, and things are moving fast now.

A verbal agreement over a four-year contract has been reached between Antonio Rüdiger and Real Madrid, as reported by Fabrizio Romano, and while the signatures are not final and an official announcement won’t be made until after the season, this thing looks done and dusted already.

I suppose after all the delays, all the waiting, all the will-he and won’t-he, there’s no time left to lose. If I were Toni, I’d want my future sorted, like yesterday as well.

Not that there was much hope left of changing Rüdiger’s mind based on the tone of the pseudo-eulogy that Thomas Tuchel delivered after our 1-0 win over West Ham yesterday, but this now pretty much all but confirms it — at least as sure as we can ever be in the transfer market.

C’est la vie.

Tuchel assured that Rüdiger is fully committed to the team through the end of the season — though he’s missed the last two games through injury — and could be back for Thursday’s game against Manchester United.

“No, absolutely no concern [about his focus]. He has no doubts and has made no doubts about it, he will play until the end of the season with everything he has. This is what he did from day one, and it’s what he will do until the last minute. I am 100 per cent sure.”

“[The injuries] in one leg it’s the groin and the other a bit the hamstring. [He] wants to come back, and the plan is he is back on Tuesday in training.”

-Thomas Tuchel; source: Football.London

We will certainly need him for the FA Cup final in three weeks as well, and I’m sure Toni will want to leave on a winning note.