Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger rejected a €10m (£8.4m) a year contract offer from Manchester United, according to Bild journalist Christian Falk.
The German reporter claims that the centre-half turned down the proposal “out of respect” for his current team Chelsea, with the player expected to join Real Madrid instead:
TRUE✅ @ToniRuediger will leave @ChelseaFC this summer. he turned down an offer of @ManUtd with a salary of 10 Mio net per year out of respect for Chelsea. an agreement with @realmadrid is expected within the next week @altobelli13
— Christian Falk (@cfbayern) April 24, 2022
Most supporters on Twitter are glad that Rudiger wasn’t interested, although many feel the real reason why he didn’t want to make the switch to Old Trafford is due to the fact that United won’t be playing Champions League football next season:
Dodged that pheeeeeeew
— The Ultimate Bro (@EdgarMujuro) April 24, 2022
Lol. Thank God. I do not think he is the CB we need though.
— ☆BOSS♤⚽️💼 💡®️ (@Bosun_Betiku) April 24, 2022
Only because utd arent playing CL period
— Chas_Matia™ (@cmutongoi) April 24, 2022
Thank god for that, it’s exactly the type of transfer we need to move away from.
— some one (@some_one100) April 24, 2022
Nothing to do with UCL football or better chance of silverware 😉😂
— Pov (@CallMePov) April 24, 2022
@ToniRuediger Out of respect of Chelsea you go to the team that knocked them out 😂😂 don’t make excuses anyone would prefer Madrid even though I’d wish you joined United but don’t use that excuse
— SSNAKE (@Mxstermind) April 24, 2022
If true, I maintain him turning us down is a positive thing – 29, ? about him in a back 4, we have 3 CBs of a similar age. Should be looking for a younger profile.
— Jon (@ManUtd_Optimist) April 24, 2022
It has been reported that Rudiger received a £230,000 a week offer from Chelsea so, if Falk’s numbers are accurate, then it seems that United’s proposal was far from being the most lucrative on the table anyway.
With that being the case, it doesn’t appear Rudiger was ever a realistic target. United will now move on to look at other potential centre-back options.