come on... he will play in the best club in the world

perfect normal decision

he need to be grateful with tuchel... 

Unfortunately, my contract negotiations had already started to get difficult last fall. Business is business, but when you don’t hear any news from the club from August to January, the situation becomes complicated. After the first offer, there was a long gap of just nothing. We’re not robots, you know? You cannot wait for months with so much uncertainty about your future. Obviously, no one saw the sanctions coming, but in the end, other big clubs were showing interest, and I had to make a decision. I will leave it at that, because business aside, I have nothing bad to say about this club. 

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/antonio-ruediger-chelsea-fc-soccer-premier-league

From this great farewell piece by Rudiger.

It's obvious that this could have been handled so much better by the club. If we had someone competent in charge of running this football club Rudiger would have signed a new contract last fall, that i'm certain of.

I don’t usually agree with anything Merson says, but he knows we are losing an £80 Million pound player, and probably replacing him with one not so good, and blames Rudi under lamps tenure, for seeding his want to move, not sure I agree, it’s only under TT he’s consistently played as this Defensive marauding monster of a player…

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/antonio-ruediger-chelsea-fc-soccer-premier-league

Great read

3 hours ago, Sindre said:

Unfortunately, my contract negotiations had already started to get difficult last fall. Business is business, but when you don’t hear any news from the club from August to January, the situation becomes complicated. After the first offer, there was a long gap of just nothing. We’re not robots, you know? You cannot wait for months with so much uncertainty about your future. Obviously, no one saw the sanctions coming, but in the end, other big clubs were showing interest, and I had to make a decision. I will leave it at that, because business aside, I have nothing bad to say about this club. 

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/antonio-ruediger-chelsea-fc-soccer-premier-league

From this great farewell piece by Rudiger.

It's obvious that this could have been handled so much better by the club. If we had someone competent in charge of running this football club Rudiger would have signed a new contract last fall, that i'm certain of.

what a f**king bad is our board

jesus christ 

He's leaving because there is no way we would've matched Real's £325Kpw and signing bonus. He can go on and make it about the club giving him the silent treatment as he pleases, but he and his agent knew for a long time what Real would be offering him. He managed to fleece Real and tried to fleece the club by being paid far more than what he is worth. 

End of. 

All very nice and everything and he’ll always have a part in Chelsea history but he’s leaving for the money so I’m not too sad.

10 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

He's leaving because there is no way we would've matched Real's £325Kpw and signing bonus. He can go on and make it about the club giving him the silent treatment as he pleases,

Real Madrid became a player after January. Back in the fall of last year he would have signed for the £200k he wanted to extend with us. Instead it was radio silence from the club for five months until the very moment Real Madrid and every other club on the continent could make direct contact with Rudiger and offer him whatever they wanted to offer.

I'm sorry but it's another example of complete incompetence from Marina. She's running the club and she's ran it in such a way that we are in the sh*t right now.

1 hour ago, Trueblue76 said:

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/antonio-ruediger-chelsea-fc-soccer-premier-league

Great read

Thank you Toni. Good luck in Madrid.

2 minutes ago, Sindre said:

Real Madrid became a player after January. Back in the fall of last year he would have signed for the £200k he wanted to extend with us. Instead it was radio silence from the club for five months until the very moment Real Madrid and every other club on the continent could make direct contact with Rudiger and offer him whatever they wanted to offer.

I'm sorry but it's another example of complete incompetence from Marina. She's running the club and she's ran it in such a way that we are in the sh*t right now.

Where are you getting this from? The Athletic reported Rudiger turned down £230kpw in January. He and his agent wanted more and a massive signing on bonus that the club were never going to entertain. 

This again goes back to my suspicion that Rudiger and his agent knew exactly what Real's offer well in advanced and tried to fleece the club. I appreciate his professionalism but at the end of the day it was about money. 

Quote

Chelsea felt that giving Rudiger £230,000-a-week was a significant figure and were optimistic it would meet his requirements. This proposal was made weeks before the sanctions hit.

But what made the agreement much harder to finalise was that Rudiger’s agent wanted a large signing on fee for himself and the player. It is thought that would have added tens of millions to the overall figure, putting Rudiger out of Chelsea’s reach.

The Athletic has learned that other clubs keen on Rudiger suggested they were willing to meet those demands at the time. However, Rudiger was still hopeful some middle ground could be found and it wasn’t the end of the matter as far as he was concerned.

But no-one could have predicted what would happen to Abramovich and the club being put up for sale at that point.

https://theathletic.com/news/thomas-tuchel-lifts-lid-on-antonio-rudigers-chelsea-exit/I2wJxM08fDHD/

 

Just now, Sconnie Blue said:

Where are you getting this from? The Athletic reported Rudiger turned down £230kpw in January. He and his agent wanted more and a massive signing on bonus that the club were never going to entertain. 

You are kind of proving my point here. I already said that waiting until January was entirely stupid as Real Madrid and other players had entered the fray then. Meaning we had competition for his signature which would obviously drive the "price" up. 

Initially we offered Rudiger an extension at about £140k which is less than what the likes of Hudson Odoi, RLC and Kepa earns. He wasn't going to accept that but said he would sign for £200k. This was before he had recieved direct and lucrative offers from Madrid, Barcelona and others. Marina promptly refused to offer him that until it was far, far too late.

Then there was a late, desperate attempt to do something of significance when we offered him £230k but that's just Marina in a nutshell. Play hardball until it's far too late, then realize you've messed up and then you end up where we've ended up. With still paying Drinkwater and Bakayokos millions a year, a completely messed up wage-structure and a club in general disarray.

 

4 hours ago, Sindre said:

Unfortunately, my contract negotiations had already started to get difficult last fall. Business is business, but when you don’t hear any news from the club from August to January, the situation becomes complicated. After the first offer, there was a long gap of just nothing. We’re not robots, you know? You cannot wait for months with so much uncertainty about your future. Obviously, no one saw the sanctions coming, but in the end, other big clubs were showing interest, and I had to make a decision. I will leave it at that, because business aside, I have nothing bad to say about this club. 

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/antonio-ruediger-chelsea-fc-soccer-premier-league

From this great farewell piece by Rudiger.

It's obvious that this could have been handled so much better by the club. If we had someone competent in charge of running this football club Rudiger would have signed a new contract last fall, that i'm certain of.

I thought from this article it is quite clear what happen. We offer him some number , clearly the number is not close to what he want. The negotiation stopped. Real came with some number, we are not willing to go for that number. Done. 

3 minutes ago, Sindre said:

You are kind of proving my point here. I already said that waiting until January was entirely stupid as Real Madrid and other players had entered the fray then. Meaning we had competition for his signature which would obviously drive the "price" up. 

Initially we offered Rudiger an extension at about £140k which is less than what the likes of Hudson Odoi, RLC and Kepa earns. He wasn't going to accept that but said he would sign for £200k. This was before he had recieved direct and lucrative offers from Madrid, Barcelona and others. Marina promptly refused to offer him that until it was far, far too late.

Then there was a late, desperate attempt to do something of significance when we offered him £230k but that's just Marina in a nutshell. Play hardball until it's far too late, then realize you've messed up and then you end up where we've ended up. With still paying Drinkwater and Bakayokos millions a year, a completely messed up wage-structure and a club in general disarray.

 

There is no way in hell his agent did not get rough number from barca/rm last fall, he is in his last year of his contract. 

 

Edited May 20, 20224 yr by Bob stark

15 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

This again goes back to my suspicion that Rudiger and his agent knew exactly what Real's offer well in advanced and tried to fleece the club. I appreciate his professionalism but at the end of the day it was about money. 

 

😂😂 Of course they knew

7 minutes ago, Sindre said:

You are kind of proving my point here. I already said that waiting until January was entirely stupid as Real Madrid and other players had entered the fray then. Meaning we had competition for his signature which would obviously drive the "price" up. 

Initially we offered Rudiger an extension at about £140k which is less than what the likes of Hudson Odoi, RLC and Kepa earns. He wasn't going to accept that but said he would sign for £200k. This was before he had recieved direct and lucrative offers from Madrid, Barcelona and others. Marina promptly refused to offer him that until it was far, far too late.

Then there was a late, desperate attempt to do something of significance when we offered him £230k but that's just Marina in a nutshell. Play hardball until it's far too late, then realize you've messed up and then you end up where we've ended up. With still paying Drinkwater and Bakayokos millions a year, a completely messed up wage-structure and a club in general disarray.

 

Think you are being quite naïve in thinking Rudiger's agent wasn't in his ear advising what other clubs would be offering him. Why do you think Rudiger was linked with Real since September? It's the very reason Christensen sacked his father as an agent and got a new one because he wanted ideas and options of what competitors would be offering him. 

And mind you, the club offered £200kpw to Rudiger in December, to which Rudiger yet again declined. Again, he knew exactly how much Real would offer him by even turning down £230kpw a month later. 

Rudiger would of gone even if Roman was still here and significantly improved his salary/contract well above anything he would get in Spain. 

You can't blame him for moving on, good luck to him.

Now we have a chance to go back to a back four.

 

7 minutes ago, coco said:

Rudiger would of gone even if Roman was still here and significantly improved his salary/contract well above anything he would get in Spain. 

You can't blame him for moving on, good luck to him.

Now we have a chance to go back to a back four.

 

We don't know that. All the talk was of his preference being to say, but on greatly improved terms. 

Like you say, you can't begrudge him moving on at his age, after all he achieved with us. I wish he'd stayed, but it does give us a chance to reshape the team.

Edited May 20, 20224 yr by Backbiter

It’s been reported all season that Chelsea offered X amount towards the start of the season and Rudiger wanted Y + signing bonus that he was expecting the likes of Madrid to offer him from Jan.
 

we’ve called his bluff and lost. As Rudiger says, that’s business. It’s a shame but we’d have also been stupid to just throw the money at him at the start of the year after 6 months of good performances 

 

10 minutes ago, Backbiter said:

We don't know that. All the talk was of his preference being to say, but on greatly improved terms. 

Like you say, you can't begrudge him moving on at his age, after all he achieved with us. I wish he'd stayed, but it does give us a chance to reshape the team.

 

1 minute ago, Blueboys said:

It’s been reported all season that Chelsea offered X amount towards the start of the season and Rudiger wanted Y + signing bonus that he was expecting the likes of Madrid to offer him from Jan.
 

we’ve called his bluff and lost. As Rudiger says, that’s business. It’s a shame but we’d have also been stupid to just throw the money at him at the start of the year after 6 months of good performances 

 

Let's be real here, this next contract Rudiger is seeking will arguably be his last big one. So no blame in Rudgier for leaving. 

But to play it out as if its Chelsea's fault instead of Rudiger and his agent taking every advantage possible to fleece Real and Chelsea for a contract and signing bonus he doesn't nearly deserve, is well and truly unjustified. 

£325kpw and a £20m signing on bonus. Rudiger knew those numbers well in advance. 

1 minute ago, Sconnie Blue said:

 

Let's be real here, this next contract Rudiger is seeking will arguably be his last big one. So no blame in Rudgier for leaving. 

But to play it out as if its Chelsea's fault instead of Rudiger and his agent taking every advantage possible to fleece Real and Chelsea for a contract and signing bonus he doesn't nearly deserve, is well and truly unjustified. 

£325kpw and a £20m signing on bonus. Rudiger knew those numbers well in advance. 

I don’t actually think it’s any one’s fault. Rudiger is entitled to get as much money as he can and Chelsea are well within their rights to say that’s too much, we’re not paying you that.

Chelsea did the right thing, he’s asked for and signed for crazy money with Madrid. We can pay 2 top level CBs contracts with that amount of money which I imagine we do. 

the chance we had to negotiate with Rudiger this season he had only been performing for 6 months. No way did he deserve to more than double his money and get a huge bonus for that. 
 

 

1 hour ago, Sindre said:

but that's just Marina in a nutshell. Play hardball until it's far too late, then realize you've messed up and then you end up where we've ended up. With still paying Drinkwater and Bakayokos millions a year, a completely messed up wage-structure and a club in general disarray.

This is the main thing that is getting on my nerves about Marina. The constant playing hardball is doing more damage than good. When it comes to getting good money for the sale of players, I can't fault her, but she plays those same tactics when it comes to signing players and getting players to sign extentions on their contracts. 

I have said for a while that we take too long to sign players in the transfer market. I remember Havertz being a done deal, but it just dragged on and on. Same goes for Bakayoko, Lukaku, Chilwell, Kepa. Signing these players so late means no pre-season with the team and a rush to get them settled in. In football, there isn't much time to get these deals done, every day counts. We seem to put in an offer, have it rejected and it's radio silence until it suddenly picks up again a few weeks later. This has to stop, we need to be quicker with our signings.

This was also the reason why we missed out on Kounde last season. Sevilla were open to selling him, but we left it so late in an attempt to drive the price down. Marina made a gamble, Sevilla didn't buckle, and by the time Marina gave in to their asking price, it was far too late in the window for Sevilla to find a replacement, so they rejected our offer.

13 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

This is the main thing that is getting on my nerves about Marina. The constant playing hardball is doing more damage than good. When it comes to getting good money for the sale of players, I can't fault her, but she plays those same tactics when it comes to signing players and getting players to sign extentions on their contracts. 

I have said for a while that we take too long to sign players in the transfer market. I remember Havertz being a done deal, but it just dragged on and on. Same goes for Bakayoko, Lukaku, Chilwell, Kepa. Signing these players so late means no pre-season with the team and a rush to get them settled in. In football, there isn't much time to get these deals done, every day counts. We seem to put in an offer, have it rejected and it's radio silence until it suddenly picks up again a few weeks later. This has to stop, we need to be quicker with our signings.

This was also the reason why we missed out on Kounde last season. Sevilla were open to selling him, but we left it so late in an attempt to drive the price down. Marina made a gamble, Sevilla didn't buckle, and by the time Marina gave in to their asking price, it was far too late in the window for Sevilla to find a replacement, so they rejected our offer.

Agree - I miss the days of Colin Hutchinson as our Chairman/Chief Negotiator, when we used to pull out announcements from thin air, with no speculation.

Perhaps I am being naive, but the days of Zola signing, literally from nowhere, seem a lifetime ago (which I guess they are!)

49 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

This was also the reason why we missed out on Kounde last season. Sevilla were open to selling him, but we left it so late in an attempt to drive the price down. Marina made a gamble, Sevilla didn't buckle, and by the time Marina gave in to their asking price, it was far too late in the window for Sevilla to find a replacement, so they rejected our offer.

Indeed!

Before that it was the whole Allison farce where we were haggling with Roma all summer instead of paying their asking price. Then Liverpool swooped in and we were again in desperation mode and made Kepa the most expensive goalkeeper in history. Before that there was Drinkwater, Zappacosta and you could go on.

Nowhere near good enough. We've also completely messed up our wage structure in this process and right now our squad is a complete shambles in my opinion. 

Some impressive rewriting of history there by good guy Toni...

the only fault we had was off putting a deadline in the summer and moving him on if he didnt sign.. I like Rudiger but he does lose his head every now and then.. has been great in a back 3 under TT .. Probably in the top 3 players for TT after Mount and James...

Best of luck in RM and thanks for the amazing UCL block and crazy memories.. we move on..