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Antonio Rüdiger had agreed a new deal to stay at Chelsea – but that has now been scuppered by all the uncertainty surrounding the club by the imposition of economic sanctions on owner Roman Abramovich.
The 29-year-old, who is out of contract at the end of the season, is wanted by top clubs all across Europe, and had rejected several offers by Chelsea to extend his duration in West London.
However, the two sides had finally reached a compromise acceptable to both parties, only for months of negotiating to be effectively rendered null and void after the club was placed under special licence. That not only places the club under an effective transfer embargo, but also means that they are not allowed to conduct contractual negotiations with existing players.
It means, instead, that he could now leave for the highest bidder, in terms of wages and signing on bonus, with Manchester United, Real Madrid, PSG, and Juventus all in the running to sign him.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.