Bayern Munich are seriously looking at options to bring in Antonio Rüdiger, report BILD and Goal. The 28-year-old centre-back has still not renewed his contract with Chelsea next year, which expires, allowing Bayern to open talks about a transfer-free transition in January. Julian Nagelsmann, the trainer of the German superpower, did not want to say much about Rüdiger on Thursday.
Rüdiger is a sought-after player in Europe given his impending transfer-free status and has also previously been linked with Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid. Chelsea would love to extend the German mandekker’s contract, but negotiations about this are difficult, it was reported in the English press this week.
Rüdiger has worked his way up to an indispensable link in Chelsea’s defense under Thomas Tuchel, who was appointed in January. This was also noticed by Rio Ferdinand, who this week proclaimed Rüdiger as ‘perhaps the very best defender’ in the Premier League. “He and Rúben Dias (of Manchester City, ed.) are close to each other, but Rüdiger has such an immense influence on his team,” said the former defender of Manchester United, among others.
Nagelsmann was asked on Thursday about the possible arrival of Rüdiger. “In general, I’m not a big fan of talking about players who are under contract elsewhere, and besides, we are not in a transfer window,” said the Bayern coach, who wanted to say something about his compatriot. “As a football fan I see that he has made a super development. Thomas (Tuchel, ed.) treated him extremely well, he was a reserve and is now one of the most important players.”
“He has incredibly good aggression and is a very good defender,” said Nagelsmann, who is unaware of Bayern’s potential interest in Rüdiger. “I don’t have it with brazzo (Hasan Salihamidzic, ed.) And if I did, I wouldn’t tell you either! I just read it in the media too. I wouldn’t even know when his contract ends and then we’ll have to see if there’s any money left in the wallet.”