Antonio Rudiger

I am pretty sure he will leave for free, It is pretty clear that the number that psg or rm offered is way above what we are willing to give him. 
Report are we are offering Rudi a 50% increase to his current deal, PSG have gone the highest at two and a half times his current deal. Rudi wants us to match that.

 
Report are we are offering Rudi a 50% increase to his current deal, PSG have gone the highest at two and a half times his current deal. Rudi wants us to match that.
Hmm, I think it is going to be  difficult for us to even come close to psg offer. 

 
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Hmm, I think it is going to be  difficult for us to even come close to psg offer. 
Don’t think we should even try to. I’d have thought 50% sounds fair but we shouldn’t go into competition with clubs like PSG.

 
Don’t think we should even try to. I’d have thought 50% sounds fair but we shouldn’t go into competition with clubs like PSG.
Yea he is gone. Now we need to find another cb who is comfortable playing as lcb. Can Kounde play as lcb? 

 
I dunno, he's a leader kinda guy who just about reached his peak and knows the club inside out. With Thiago gone we're missing that big time and even if we'd sign another LCB (doubt that Koundé is the answer for LCB from what I've learned) elite defender who knows how long it'll take to get into this role.

I doubt that the last word is spoken yet but it be a big miss if he's really leaving.

 
Don’t think we should even try to. I’d have thought 50% sounds fair but we shouldn’t go into competition with clubs like PSG.
Indeed.

He is said to be one of our "lowest" earners and I don't know how much he is on right now, only that PSGs offer is said to be more than 200k a week.

So maybe he is currently on around 80k and we are offering 120k?

 
I would be cautious about offering him a long term mega money deal with his injury record. He’s in a good period of form and has been largely consistent but I dont think he’s world class. 

 
But is 200k that outrageous? Kai, Timo, Kante and Lukaku reportedly all earn significantly than that, so I think 200k would be deserved. He's a leader and has been one of our best players these last 9 months. He was also very good under Conte and Sarri before that.

 
But is 200k that outrageous? Kai, Timo, Kante and Lukaku reportedly all earn significantly than that, so I think 200k would be deserved. He's a leader and has been one of our best players these last 9 months. He was also very good under Conte and Sarri before that.
Depends I guess. No disrespect intend by if Rudiger is paid that so should Mendy be, and Christensen, and Kova etc.

Imagine the squad where all the very good players are paid a minimum 200k, then the likes of Mount and Kova and Jorgi will feel they deserve 300k, then players like Mendy, Lukaku, Kante 400k. Our wage bill would be horrendous 

 
Depends I guess. No disrespect intend by if Rudiger is paid that so should Mendy be, and Christensen, and Kova etc.

Imagine the squad where all the very good players are paid a minimum 200k, then the likes of Mount and Kova and Jorgi will feel they deserve 300k, then players like Mendy, Lukaku, Kante 400k. Our wage bill would be horrendous 
Mhm you're right that we have to be careful not to inflate our wage bill. But if Rüdiger keeps performing like this, then he's worth it. If we buy a hyped prospect like Kounde, then I doubt he would earn a lot less than 200k. Chilwell is reportedly on 190k. Also I feel like Rüdiger isn't just any player. He's a leader who drives the team forward and seems to be well liked in the dressing room. I think it would be hard to replace him. On top of that he's one of our senior players and on current form one of our best players so I feel he deserves a nice little pay rise.

 
Mhm you're right that we have to be careful not to inflate our wage bill. But if Rüdiger keeps performing like this, then he's worth it. If we buy a hyped prospect like Kounde, then I doubt he would earn a lot less than 200k. Chilwell is reportedly on 190k. Also I feel like Rüdiger isn't just any player. He's a leader who drives the team forward and seems to be well liked in the dressing room. I think it would be hard to replace him. On top of that he's one of our senior players and on current form one of our best players so I feel he deserves a nice little pay rise.
He does deserve one I agree, we just don't know exactly what PSG is offering to know if we could match it or not. For all we know they have offered him 350k

 
Rudi has been our best player since the turn of year and deserves a significant pay rise, but the club shouldn't be held to ransom with threats  to leave if he doesn't get what he wants. Talk of 200 k a week is just stupid money, but so are the wages for the rather average Chilwell and and few others. 

It's a difficult decision to make by the club though! Another one on the horizon is what to do with Kante and Pulisic. As good as they both are, what use are they when they are constantly getting injured? We can get by without Kante, but a fit and in form Pulisic is the only player we have with skills to actually run at defenders and skin them. Been such a disappointing signing.

 
But is 200k that outrageous? Kai, Timo, Kante and Lukaku reportedly all earn significantly than that, so I think 200k would be deserved. He's a leader and has been one of our best players these last 9 months. He was also very good under Conte and Sarri before that.
I was just going to post something similar. If it's indeed true that Werner is earning 20million Euros (outrageous if true), then nobody can begrudge Rudiger for asking for much similar wages

 
I would be cautious about offering him a long term mega money deal with his injury record. He’s in a good period of form and has been largely consistent but I dont think he’s world class. 
Let's measure centre-halves against a prime JT and Gallas, and also an aging but imperious Marcel Desailly and Tiago Silva.

If you could just stand still Mr Rudiger whilst I run the tape over you. Thank you. And the inside leg measurement please. Thank you.

You may leave Mr Rudiger.

 
Let's measure centre-halves against a prime JT and Gallas, and also an aging but imperious Marcel Desailly and Tiago Silva.

If you could just stand still Mr Rudiger whilst I run the tape over you. Thank you. And the inside leg measurement please. Thank you.

You may leave Mr Rudiger.
He's not in the same league as a primetime Terry or Gallas, but I'd rate him as good as any current CB below VVD. I'd also rate Christensen at that level too.

 
Rudi has been our best player since the turn of year and deserves a significant pay rise, but the club shouldn't be held to ransom with threats  to leave if he doesn't get what he wants. Talk of 200 k a week is just stupid money, but so are the wages for the rather average Chilwell and and few others. 

It's a difficult decision to make by the club though! Another one on the horizon is what to do with Kante and Pulisic. As good as they both are, what use are they when they are constantly getting injured? We can get by without Kante, but a fit and in form Pulisic is the only player we have with skills to actually run at defenders and skin them. Been such a disappointing signing.
If anything the mega deal CHO is on and offering next to nothing to the side likely makes players who do a lot like Rudiger go "hang on a minute".

 
Many moving pieces and things to consider here:

  • Has arguably become our most important defender and can't blame him for looking at wages of players like Chilwell, Odoi, Werner, etc
  • Let's assume we do resign him on 225K p/w; that is 12M per year or 47M over 4 years, plus probably something in the 10% plus loyalty bonus
  • Any replacement of similar quality will cost 60M+ (look at Kounde), and lesser quality is not cheap (White at 50M raises eyebrows).  Assume Kounde would be on something around 200K over 5 years (52M), or amortized annually with transfer fee 22M per year
  • It doesn't show yet, but we do have a defensive gap.  Silva is 37, Dave is not getting any younger, Chalobah has lots of potential but still relatively unproven, with Christensen growing nicely in a back 3
  • The transfer market has changed.  Despite it going bananas with Lukaku, Messi, and CR, generally speaking, PL clubs have substantial purchasing power and little need to sell.  Where would the next defender come from, and who comes to mind beyond Kounde
  • Maybe step back and see how Liverpool do this season.  They spent significant sums this summer resigning critical players, with large increases.  Off to a strong start

We will run into our own structural limits, over 30 policy, and candidly Rudi's injury record does not help him. If it were up to me I'd resign him, but we've probably also seen the best from him.

 
Many moving pieces and things to consider here:

  • Has arguably become our most important defender and can't blame him for looking at wages of players like Chilwell, Odoi, Werner, etc
  • Let's assume we do resign him on 225K p/w; that is 12M per year or 47M over 4 years, plus probably something in the 10% plus loyalty bonus
  • Any replacement of similar quality will cost 60M+ (look at Kounde), and lesser quality is not cheap (White at 50M raises eyebrows).  Assume Kounde would be on something around 200K over 5 years (52M), or amortized annually with transfer fee 22M per year
  • It doesn't show yet, but we do have a defensive gap.  Silva is 37, Dave is not getting any younger, Chalobah has lots of potential but still relatively unproven, with Christensen growing nicely in a back 3
  • The transfer market has changed.  Despite it going bananas with Lukaku, Messi, and CR, generally speaking, PL clubs have substantial purchasing power and little need to sell.  Where would the next defender come from, and who comes to mind beyond Kounde
  • Maybe step back and see how Liverpool do this season.  They spent significant sums this summer resigning critical players, with large increases.  Off to a strong start

We will run into our own structural limits, over 30 policy, and candidly Rudi's injury record does not help him. If it were up to me I'd resign him, but we've probably also seen the best from him.
Worth also considering that Rudiger has looked nothing like a world class CB in all his time here UNTIL TT came in. Since then he has been top class. 

Evidence points to Chelsea managers not lasting longer than an average 2 seasons. So imagine we resign Rudi to a large money, 5 year deal for this summer and a year later TT is sacked or walks and we go back to good to average Ruidger in a back 4 on large money that we cannot shift and the new manager may just park him on the bench or in the stands.

 
But is 200k that outrageous? Kai, Timo, Kante and Lukaku reportedly all earn significantly than that, so I think 200k would be deserved. He's a leader and has been one of our best players these last 9 months. He was also very good under Conte and Sarri before that.
£200k a week would (allegedly) make him one of the 4 best paid players at the club. Given that his form during the duration of his time at Chelsea has been....Patchy... Do you go rewarding a player for what could well be a purple patch of form? 

 
He has looked his best since TT came in, no doubt. But apart from that 19/20 season, where every single one of our defenders looked really bad, which points to a systemic error, he was one of our best defenders and not inconsistent at all. So the anomaly is not his form now, but rather that one season where our defensive set up was sh*te. Before that he was a really good CB under Conte and Sarri, who has now evolved to being borderline world class under Tuchel as he hits his prime as a player. 

Put his importance on the pitch as a leader and in the dressing room on top of that, and yes I would be happy with him being one of the 4 best players at the club. Especially considering his replacement would cost a substantial amount of money, would probably not earn a lot less and could be a flop.

 
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