Does Chelsea now have the leverage in Antonio Rudiger contract talks?

Chelsea went into contract renewal talks with Germany defender Antonio Rudiger not long after the Champions League title win. Rudiger’s value was at its highest (rightfully so) at that time. The former AS Roma centerback saw a new lease of life under new manager Thomas Tuchel. He quickly became a key player in both the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League leading up to the Blues winning the biggest prize in club football. At the end of the 2020/21 campaign, Rudiger had just one year left on his contract, making him a free agent at the end of the current season in June 2022. Contract talks almost immediately reached an impasse as it was reported that Rudiger wanted to be the, or one of the, highest paid players at the club.

This obviously made Chelsea hesitate, as it’s rare for a centerback to be one of a club’s highest paid players. In fact, the only Premier League centerback on up to £200,000 per week is Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk. The Dutchman has been excellent for four years, playing a hand in key milestones like Premier League and Champions League titles, as well as a 20-clean sheet season for the Reds. The other thing that made the Blues hesitate was the fact that up until the six months before contract talks began, Rudiger was on the outside of the starting XI looking in. Regardless, his importance gave him the leverage, but that doesn’t seem like the case right now.

Does Chelsea now have the leverage over Antonio Rudiger in extension talks?

Rudiger only became a key player when Tuchel was appointed and the system was changed to require one extra centerback. Rudiger deserves full credit for his performances in that system, and he was clearly an essential member of the squad leading up to the club’s success at the end of that season. However, he was that for all of six months, at the time contract negotiations started. No club has ever been given a jumbo contract based on just six months or even one year of work.

It also cannot be ignored that Chelsea was on the verge of selling the German not many months before Tuchel arrived. Tuchel’s arrival just happened to coincide with the end of Rudiger’s contract.

The most interesting part of the contract talks perhaps is the reports circulating that are name-dropping several big club, including Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. Paris Saint-Germain was also one of the clubs mentioned. The reports claimed that these big clubs were prepared to offer the German international more than double what he was asking for at Chelsea. These “reports” had the desired effect; the fans were agitated, demanding the club “pay the man whatever he wanted” to avoid losing him. This stunt was designed to put the club under pressure and cave to Rudiger’s demands. The mistake, of course, was putting a top negotiator like Marina Granovskaia under pressure—she called his bluff.

If anything has been revealed in the past few months, it’s that the club was right to call the bluff of whoever threatened Rudiger will be snapped up with humongous wage packets. Real Madrid lost 35-year-old centerback Sergio Ramos and even it preferred to get 29-year-old free agent David Alaba on about £360,000 per week. Alaba is one year older than Rudiger. PSG lost 35-year-old Thiago Silva and even it preferred the aforementioned Ramos. Rudiger is seven years younger than Ramos and these clubs weren’t interested in even paying a small fee for a guy whose contract was expiring in less than 12 months. That says something, everything even.

Top clubs like the ones previously mentioned do top scouting work. They do not shortlist transfer targets based on six months of evidence, especially for a centerback that is 28 years old. Rudiger was poor in the Euros, which indicates more and more that Rudiger’s performances have been largely dependent on Tuchel’s set-up. Chelsea is not prepared to offer more than £200,000 per week. After Rudiger’s failed contract stunt, he’d be smart to take it because if he was in as high a demand as some reports have suggested, clubs would have been lining up outside his door to offer him what he wants and then some.

At the end of the day, the proof is in the pudding. Rudiger has been a revelation for Chelsea under Tuchel, but he has been at the club for long enough that it’d be disingenuous to judge him mainly on 12 months of work. Rudiger had some leverage after the Champions League win with one year left on his contract. But after letting his contract run to less than six months left, he has no leverage anymore. If he doesn’t agree to Chelsea’s contract demands, it will rightfully let him go.

Who do you think has the leverage in this situation? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!