West Ham have been linked with a move to sign Chelsea centre-back Antonio Rudiger on a free transfer in the summer but insiders Claret and Hugh have poured cold water on those claims.
Hammers insiders Westhamfans.org suggested at the end of last month that a source very highly placed at Chelsea has informed them that the East London outfit have made it very clear that they want to prise Rudiger away from Stamford Bridge.
In other news…Report: West Ham are now in the race to sign ‘devastating, incredible’ £23m midfielder
The 28-year-old Blues defender is out of contract at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2022. And as things stand, talks regarding a new deal between player and club have reached an impasse.
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has already allowed one of his leading players to join West Ham in the form of Kurt Zouma. So surely the German won’t now want to lose arguably his best defender to the Blues’ fierce London rivals.
Tuchel may well be powerless, however, with Rudiger’s deal so close to expiring.
Antonio Rudiger free transfer update provided by West Ham insider
Claret and Hugh reckon that the Hammers’ hopes of signing the 49-capped Germany international are fading fast.
That’s because Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Real Madrid and AC Milan all want to sign the Chelsea man as well according to C&H.
It’s easy to see why we have little or no chance of signing Rudiger.
The 28-year-old currently earns round £100k-a-week at Chelsea (Spotrac). He will be demanding closer to £200k-a-week for his next move, however (Westhamfans.org).
Those kind of wage demands would rule us out anyway.
It was fun while it lasted. Rudiger would have been a sensational addition for West Ham. The links seemed unrealistic at the time though.
And it’s clear that they are even more so now.
In other news…Report: West Ham could now try to sign 26-year-old PL ace after devastating Zouma news
David Moyes will be desperate to sign a top-class centre-back in January with Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma out for the long-term.
Quite who Moyes will bring to the London Stadium remains to be seen. It now seems almost certain that it won’t be Rudiger though.
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