Antonio Rudiger has reached a verbal agreement with Real Madrid to join the club on a free transfer after the 2021-2022 season. The Spanish La Liga giants took their interest in the player to the next level after Rudiger’s ambitious display against the Spanish club during the second leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final round.
Recall that Chelsea defeated Real Madrid 3-2 in the second leg of the round but the Spanish side knocked out the Premier League side from the competition 5-4 on aggregate.
Aside from Antonio Rudiger’s yeoman performance against Real Madrid, he was one of Chelsea’s players that scored against the Spanish side.
On Monday, April 25, 2022, transfer expert, Fabrizio Romano confirmed via a tweet that Real Madrid has reached a verbal agreement with Antonio Rudiger. He however added that the club and the 29-year-old German defender are yet to sign the contract. But that could be done anytime soon.
“Real Madrid has reached a verbal agreement with Antonio Rüdiger. Contract not signed yet – but Real Madrid are now closing on Rüdiger deal on a free: here we go soon”, the transfer expert tweeted on Monday, April 25, 2022.
“It’s gonna be a long-term deal. Final details to be discussed soon, before signing the contract.”
Real Madrid have reached verbal agreement with Antonio Rüdiger. Contract not signed yet – but Real Madrid are now closing on Rüdiger deal on a free: here we go soon! ⚪️🤝 #RealMadrid
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 25, 2022
It’s gonna be a long-term deal. Final details to be discussed soon, before signing the contract. pic.twitter.com/Jn0uvP0UQa
This news came hours after the coach of Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel confirmed that Antonio Rudiger would leave Chelsea at the end of this season.
In an interview last weekend, coach Tuchel said the German defender has told him directly that he had decided to leave and the club was not angry about his decision.
What happened between Antonio Rudiger and Chelsea
When Antonio Rudiger joined Chelsea from AS Roma for a transfer fee worth €35 million, he was not so famous but was able to establish himself as a world-class defender at Chelsea.
Under the reign of coach Frank Lampard especially in the 2019-2020 season, Rudiger was enjoying less game time and was on the verge of leaving the club before coach Lampard was sacked.
When coach Tuchel arrived in 2021, the German tactician was able to bring out the best in the German defender. He used the 29-year-old defender to win a UEFA Champions League title, a UEFA Super Cup, a FIFA Club World Cup, and reach the FA Cup final twice.
Rudiger started having issues with Chelsea when the club decided to renew his contract ahead of the expiration date which is on June 30, 2022. The German defender who has been earning around £100,000 per week, started demanding that Chelsea should pay him between £230,000-a-week and £290,000-a-week before he would sign a contract extension.
But Chelsea were unwilling to offer the German international such a huge sum of weekly wages. However, the club was reportedly willing to increase Rudiger’s current wages by 70 percent. Yet, the footballer refused to accept the deal.
As that was going on, Russia invaded Ukraine, and the club’s owner Roman Abramovich who is from Russia was banned from doing any form of business in the United Kingdom. The banned put a halt to every ongoing negotiation at Chelsea pending when the club gets a new owner.
Unfortunately for Chelsea, Antonio Rudiger grew impatient about the whole process and decided that he would walk away this summer before he ends up without a club from July 1, 2022.
Coach Thomas Tuchel said: “The situation is that he wants to leave the club. He informed me of this in a private talk.
“We gave everything – me and the club – but we could not fight anymore because of the actions.
“Without the sanctions, we would at least be able to carry on fighting, but our hands are tied. We don’t take it personally. It is his decision.”
So far in his stay at the club, Antonio Rudiger has played 196 games in all competitions in which he scored 12 goals and provided 7 assists for Chelsea.
