Toni Rudiger 2022-23Getty

Chelsea made no effort to keep Rudiger despite defender's desire to stay, claims agent

  • Rudiger left Chelsea on a free
  • Defender apparently wanted to stay and become Blues legend
  • Chelsea spent big on replacements

WHAT HAPPENED? An intermediary who worked on Rudiger's transfer to Real Madrid, Saif Rubie, has told talkSPORT that the previous regime under Roman Abramovich allowed important players such as Rudiger to leave the club. GOAL has previously reported that Rudiger was too insulted by initial contract offers from the Blues to even consider more competitive propositions in the final six months of his expiring deal.

WHAT THEY SAID: "What if I told you Chelsea, and the old regime, basically made next to no effort to keep the player. At the time he was very happy to stay and potentially be the captain of the club," said Rubie. "He was offered a contract that was half the amount Romelu Lukaku were earning."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Defenders Rudiger and Andreas Christensen both left Chelsea on free transfers in the summer. The Blues ended up spending huge amounts to reinforce the back-line, bringing in Marc Cucurella for £62 million from Brighton and splashing out another £34m on Napoli's Kalidou Koulibaly. Chelsea then followed that up by signing Wesley Fofana for £75m from Leicester.

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STORY IN THREE PHOTOS:

RudigerGettyRudigerGettyRudiger Real MadridGetty

DID YOU KNOW? Antonio Rudiger kept a clean sheet in 40% of his Premier League appearances - more than any other German player.

WHAT NEXT FOR CHELSEA: Chelsea take on Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League group stages on Tuesday.

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