Spanish giants leading the race for signing 29-year-old Chelsea superstar

Transfer News: Barcelona lead Real Madrid in the race to sign Chelsea star Antonio Rudiger

According to The Athletic (Subscription Required), Barcelona are in the lead to secure the services of Chelsea star Antonio Rudiger ahead of Real Madrid in the transfer race. His future at Stamford Bridge has been up in the air for quite a while, which has resulted in uncertainty.

Rudiger will see his current contract with the Blues expire in the summer transfer window. That means he is legally able to reach a pre-contract agreement with foreign clubs ahead of the next season. What’s more, it is revealed that he will take a final decision over his future by the end of this month.

That would be concerning for Thomas Tuchel’s side, who are still dealing with the ownership situation. Now with Barca supposedly leading the pursuit over Real, the English side could be in for a difficult couple of weeks. Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain are also keeping tabs on the situation, making life even worse for the West London club.

The German international’s importance to our backline cannot simply be put into words as he has been a huge presence in our squad. His dominating style of play, coupled with his aggressiveness in attack, makes him an attractive prospect for any team. As such, it is understandable why top clubs have gathered around to try their luck to prise him.

However, we must not lose the 29-year-old’s services and must do our best to keep hold of him past this summer. But, if he is looking to decide before May, we could be in trouble since we are not allowed to engage in contract talks due to the sanctions imposed by the UK Government.

Hence, we must do our best and try to convince the Premier League superstar to delay his decision until the sale is finalised. Perhaps Tuchel could influence the centre-back, considering how the boss helped revive his stagnated career at the Bridge.

We are confident that the former AS Roma man would extend his stay with us past this campaign. After all, he was close to renewing his deal before we were hit with the sanctions. Supposedly, a £200,000 a week salary package was in line to be signed before we suffered the setback.

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If that is the case, then it can be argued that we can continue to build on that progress once the restrictions are lifted. The interests from these major European sides coupled with the Blues ace’s current stance would cause issues for sure.

That is especially the case when the Catalans already met with Rudiger’s agent last month, indicating the stern challenge that awaits us. Let’s hope that the defender will decide to stay with us as it has given him so much success in recent times.