Cesar Azpilicueta celebrates scoring a goal for Chelsea.
According to The Athletic (Subscription Required), Chelsea would be looking to renew the contracts of pivotal defenders such as Andreas Christensen, Cesar Azpilicueta, and Antonio Rudiger sooner to avoid losing them on a free transfer in the immediate future.
There has been a lot of uncertainty revolving around the defensive trio this season. All of them have become a key part of Thomas Tuchel’s plans at Stamford Bridge, with Azpilicueta’s important opener in the FA Cup fixture against Plymouth Argyle summarizing just how important they still are at Stamford Bridge.
Rudiger and Christensen have provided dependable performances throughout the last couple of seasons and the thought of losing them without proper backup is a scary proposition. It is claimed that the former VfB Stuttgart defender was offered a bumper new contract that could see him pocket £200,000-a-week in wages.
It is now being believed that the German international is asking for an offer of £225,000-a-week after rejecting a proposal from Real Madrid, which would have seen him pocket £173,000-a-week.
Nevertheless, the fact that none of these defenders have signed pre-contract agreements in January with foreign clubs could be seen as a positive sign.
The 48-year-old manager likes to play with three centre-backs which means that extra depth and quality is required in that department as compared to a team that plays with two- as we did for the most parts under Frank Lampard. The former Borussia Dortmund manager enjoyed great success with this formation and led us to the UEFA Champions League last season.
He also helped us lift the UEFA Super Cup this year and the likes of Azpilicueta, Christensen, and Rudiger have played an important role in us winning those trophies. The Danish defender came through and started receiving more quality time in the first team set-up after Tuchel’s arrival.
Azpilicueta, meanwhile, has deputized at right-back for us whenever necessary and his experience at the elite level could be a big plus point for any club, while 28-year-old German defender, Rudiger, has shown his aerial dominance and physical presence to keep opposition attackers at bay.
Trevoh Chalobah has shown signs of promise in recent times. That being said, the youngster has only just started getting familiarised with first-team action and has only played in 21 games for the Blues across all competitions until now.
Whilst Thiago Silva has been a great acquisition by the Stamford Bridge outfit, the veteran defender isn’t getting any younger at the age of 37. This, coupled with the losses of Fikayo Tomori and Marc Guehi at the start of this season, underlines why we cannot afford to lose any more centre-backs without bringing in new faces at the club.
It is certainly not the wisest idea to meet the demands of these players without a second thought. Rudiger turns 29 within a month and paying a big sum of money to a player in his 30s could be a precedent that the club would be better off without setting.
That being said, we have to be wary of just how important the trio is to our club, and if we do look to replace any one, or more, of them, then there must not be any compromise when it comes to quality.
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