Contract renewal of prominent Chelsea defender in doubt

This news will be a big shocker for all Chelsea fans and it can turn out to be worse in the next few days. Everyone in Europe is familiar with the news of contract negotiations between Antonio Rudiger and the Blues being at a standstill. The German defender, when offered a new contract a few months back, allegedly rejected it. Numerous reports go on to state that the player was disappointed with the offer. Now, the centerback is asking for his wages to be around £200,000 a week, which seems reasonable with his contribution to the first team. Regardless, it seems that the club is not so sure about the number, keeping in mind the fact that Rudiger is now 28.

As if the Rudiger developments weren’t bad enough, it is now being reported that the contract negotiations with Andreas Christensen have stalled due to a lack of contact between both parties over a new deal. The Danish centerback has been in the form of his life, playing some world class football for both club and country, but his deal expires in June 2022. This leaves him open to agree on a pre-contract with any foreign club beginning Jan. 1 of next year. The lack of progression on a new deal for either centerback is extremely concerning.

Andreas Christensen’s future at Chelsea is now uncertain as the two sides have reportedly stalled contract talks in recent months

It is a very absurd situation that the club’s hierarchy has put itself in. With an aging back line, every board’s priority would be to tie down players on long-term deals that will solidify the future of its club. In this case, these players are Christensen, Rudiger and Trevoh Chalobah. Players like Cesar Azpilicueta and Thiago Silva are also the ones who have only a few months left on their contract, but they don’t have more than a few years left at the top level, certainly not as many as the others. Having won the Champions League last season, the club should now be focused on a title challenge in the Premier League, but the mismanagement of key players’ contracts can put Chelsea’s future success in jeopardy.

The new contract—which was offered to Christensen back in August—would see the Danish defender signed up to a four-year deal with an option to extend for another season. The central defender would still be amongst the lowest-earning senior players at the club, according to Goal, despite it still representing a significant pay rise. Both defenders are reportedly keen to stay at Stamford Bridge but want to be rewarded for their role as some of the most important players.

The Blues have shown serious interest in signing a new defender after failing to sign Jules Kounde from Sevilla during the summer transfer window. The west London side has also been offered Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt, with his agent Mino Raiola coming out publicly saying that he wants his client to move to a new club in the summer of 2022. If, for any reason, the club fails to sign either Christensen or Rudiger to a new contract, that will prove very costly in many ways.

Financially speaking, signing players like Kounde and De Ligt will cost the club over £100 million in transfer fees alone. In addition, there is no telling how (or even if) each would adapt to the Premier League. This would mean that the club might not be able to challenge for silverware during this transitional period. Meanwhile, the likes of Christensen and Rudiger are Premier League proven. Signing new players will also result in upcoming promising players from the academy—like Levi Colwill—seeing their path blocked. This can again lead to another academy exodus, just like supporters saw this summer. Can Chelsea afford to take so many risks? Time will tell.

What do you make of the latest rumors surrounding contract discussions? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!