Newcastle United may soon learn the fate of their pursuit for Antonio Rudiger with the Chelsea ace weighing up three offers.
This has been an unprecedented day of news for Chelsea, whose future now seems a little less than certain.
Roman Abramovich has been sanctioned as part of the crackdown on oligarchs in the UK and Chelsea are feeling the effects.
No signings can come in, no new contracts can be offered, no tickets can be sold… it’s a truly incredible set of circumstances.
This means Chelsea’s out of contract players are now set for the exit door as things stand, with Rudiger among them.
Chelsea’s top centre back is out of contract this summer with the Blues unable to convince Rudiger to sign.
Now they can’t even strike such a deal, Rudiger is primed for a big move elsewhere.
Where exactly will Rudiger go? The Telegraph claim that Newcastle are suddenly joining the race and are willing to throw money at the German.
With PIF’s financial backing – which should raise as many as questions as that of Chelsea and Abramovich – Newcastle are able to offer Rudiger a huge deal.
Fabrizio Romano now claims that Rudiger has three contract offers on the table, though no clubs are named.
Romano adds that Rudiger is expected to make a decision on his destination very soon.
Newcastle can’t agree a pre-contract deal with Rudiger. Such deals aren’t allowed between English clubs, but foreign teams can secure pre-contract agreements.
That means even if Rudiger does pick Newcastle, no actual deal can be secured until the summer.
Still, having a verbal agreement from Rudiger would be huge, with Newcastle looking to strike an incredible coup for the defender branded ‘tremendous’ by Rio Ferdinand.
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