Chelsea should draw a line in the sand on contracts and move on

It’s Christmas eve, which means there is roughly a week until the new year and a new transfer window. With less than six months remaining on their contracts, players are able to negotiate with other clubs if they are of a certain age. That means that Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen, Thiago Silva, and Cesar Azpilicueta can all freely plan their next move around Chelsea’s influence.

Because of this, 1 January should be the line in the sand. Extend by then or the extension won’t come. No more games, no more almost extensions. You sign or you go. It’s just that simple.

Christensen has just changed agents, but that shouldn’t offer spare time after the ordeal the club has gone through. Rudiger is still nowhere close to getting his personal valuation and he likely never will. The only exception to this rule should come with Silva and Azpilicueta due to their age. Neither will get a much better deal than Chelsea and they surely know it. If they want to keep negotiating, they can, but the Blues shouldn’t change their terms past January.

The line drawn, Chelsea should switch gears to ensure that this same situation does not happen again next season. N’Golo Kante, Jorginho, and Marcos Alonso will all be out of contract in the summer after next. This summer would be the last chance to sell any of them, but Thomas Tuchel would surely like two of those players to extend despite their ages. That process used to start much sooner at Chelsea, but Covid and a manager change made things weird for many players.

Kante and Jorginho seem like pretty clear extensions on the surface level, but it is also a position that the Blues A: have many players coming through and B: could do with different profiles in midfield. Kante and Jorginho are two of the best in the business, but it is understandable if the Blues want to start building for something different while collecting what transfer fees they can.

Alonso’s time is likely closer to up than not. Even if he stays around next season, it is unlikely that he remains much longer past that. Ian Maatsen is in the pipeline, but that’s before considering a signing if Ben Chilwell is out long term. Any signing would surely see Alonso leave in the summer.

But perhaps more than any of this, Chelsea needs to stop trying to extend players that clearly don’t want to extend all that badly. This whole saga has gone on long enough and there has to be a line somewhere where enough is enough. It’s time to look towards the future and these players need to decide if they are part of that or not now, not later.

Tell Rudiger and Christensen they have a week to sign or assume they are gone. Tell Azpilicueta and Silva the contract on 1 January will be the last negotiation. Switch gears to figuring out the fates of Kante, Jorginho, and Alonso. And maybe, if there is time and a need, sign a player or two in January.