In the upcoming winter transfer season, German center back Rüdiger of English Premier League giants Chelsea, is reportedly set to agree a pre-contract with La Liga giants Real Madrid, with plans to join the club as a free agent next summer. The news comes from leading sports media outlet The Athletic, which revealed that Rüdiger will sign a contract with Real Madrid that will end his career at Chelsea when it expires.
Rüdiger has long been rumored to be linked with Real Madrid. His contract with Chelsea is due to expire at the end of the season, and since Chelsea offered a £140,000-a-week contract extension in August this year which was rejected by Rüdiger, no further progress has been made between the two sides. It is reported that Rüdiger is currently earning £90,000 a week, which makes him look a bit underpaid compared to his fellow teammates Werner and Havertz.
Rüdiger is keen on a contract that pays him close to £200,000 a week, however Chelsea have no intention of upping their offer. Under the rules, Rüdiger can negotiate with foreign clubs from January 2022, so he will sign a pre-contract with Real Madrid next month.
The Athletic states that Rüdiger will join Real Madrid as a free agent next summer. Although Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich are also interested in him, Rüdiger still prefers to join the Bernabeu to continue his soccer career. For Real Madrid, the addition of Rüdiger is expected to strengthen the back line.
Despite losing the two pillars of Ramos and Varane this season, the combination of Alaba and Militão performed quite well, effectively filling the void left by the Spaniard and the Frenchman. However, this center-back pair has a significant height disadvantage, standing at 1'8" and 1'86" respectively, and their control of overhead kicks is not ideal. The addition of Rüdiger, who is over 1 meter 9, will easily solve this problem. This means that for Alaba, who specializes in multi-positional play, he can play more talent at left back and in midfield, which is undoubtedly a boon to manager Carlo Ancelotti's tactical arrangements.
