Chelsea are yet to open new contract talks with defender Antonio Rudiger, which could be a sign that the German international is under pressure at Stamford Bridge in light of the club’s drive for defensive reinforcements ahead of next season.
The Blues have the worst defensive record of any side in the top half of the Premier League and Rudiger, who missed much of the first half of the season through injury, found himself dropped following a less than impressive performance in the recent defeat to West Ham.
He was brought on at half time of the 3-0 defeat at Sheffield United earlier this month and was re-installed to the starting lineup for the slender win over relegated Norwich on Tuesday.
Rudiger, a £30m signing from Roma in 2017, recently entered the last two years of his Chelsea contract, which might ordinarily be a time for clubs to begin negotiating new terms with key players to ensure they are tied down and their value is protected.
But the Daily Mail reports that no formal talks have yet been held, even though a new contract was first rumoured to be in the offing way back in November.
Manager Frank Lampard is known to be keen on improving Chelsea’s defence, which has so far been the club’s Achilles heel during his time in charge. The 42-year-old hasn’t settled on a preferred defensive line, while home-grown Fikayo Tomori has hardly played since December.
90min revealed earlier this week that Chelsea are one of three Premier League clubs alongside Manchester United and Manchester City to have enquired to Inter about highly rated Slovakian centre-back Milan Skriniar as all three look to strengthen ahead of next season.
At 25, Skriniar is seen as more of a long-term investment who still has potential to improve, compared to Kalidou Koulibaly, who will turn 30 next season and remains expensively valued at a reported £65m. 90min understands that Chelsea and the others have been quoted £75m for Skriniar, a figure that has not put them off given the long-term upside to signing him.
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Source : 90min