Real Madrid News
Chelsea superstar rejected better offers from Bayern and PSG to sign for Real Madrid
Having pulled off a masterstroke with the Bosman signing of David Alaba last summer, Real Madrid are set to repeat the trick again in the upcoming window.
Indeed, Real Madrid have an agreement in place to sign Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger on a free transfer when his contract with the Blues runs out at the end of next month.
The German international has easily been one of the best defenders across Europe over the past year and a half. He played a key role in Chelsea’s UEFA Champions League triumph last term and helped them to the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup titles this season.
The Premier League giants were trying hard to tie the ex-AS Roma centre-back down to a new contract. However, the sanctions imposed on the club by the UK Government meant they could not negotiate a new deal with Rudiger, who in turn reached an agreement with Real Madrid.
The Merengues were not the only club interested in Rudiger. The 29-year-old had a plethora of teams chasing his signing ahead of next season.
Indeed, Diario AS reports that both Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich presented the centre-half with much better offers than Real Madrid.
The report adds that Bayern Munich, in particular, tried to ‘torpedo’ Real Madrid’s operation late on, following their elimination from the UEFA Champions League at the hands of La Liga side Villarreal.
However, Rudiger snubbed the proposals from the French and the German title-winners in order to join the newly-crowned La Liga champions instead.
The report states that the Chelsea superstar will be signing a contract worth €6.8 million per year with Real Madrid that will run until the summer of 2026.
An elite defender with plenty of experience at the highest level, Rudiger has the potential to be an excellent signing for Carlo Ancelotti & co.
Arda Guler’s Real Madrid stint has not gotten off to the start he would have hoped to have given the expectation that preceded the transfer.
Having joined in the summer after Real Madrid outbid their competition to win him over from Fenerbahce for a 20-million-euro fee, buzz was high as the winger was expected to slot into the team quite seamlessly, albeit on a rotational basis.
Unfortunately for the 18-year-old, he has been constantly marred by injuries since completing the move.
Reports have stated that after Guler picked up his third injury since his move, Real Madrid have been concerned and want to take things slow with the player to ensure he is fit as soon as possible after an injury to his quadriceps this time.
The Turk is yet to make his competitive debut for the club, and Real Madrid even sacked their medical chief in November, in light of their injury crises since the beginning of the season.
No loan deal for Guler
However, according to Fabrizio Romano in a recent YouTube video, he states that Madrid maintain full trust and patience in the youngster.
Despite his bad luck with injuries, the latest of which he is scheduled to return from after Christmas, the Galacticos have no intention of loaning out Guler to Turkish clubs despite lots of speculation of them doing so of late.
Romano states that Madrid remain firm on not shaking things up too much with the squad, and they want to keep their roster stable, including Arda Guler.
They want to extend their full support and protection to the player as he aims to return to full fitness and finally make his bow for Madrid either by the end of this month or in 2024.
