Chelsea defender comes knocking on Real Madrid's door, seeks fresh transfer talks

Chelsea FC defender Antonio Rudiger has reportedly instructed his agent to get back in touch with Spanish giants Real Madrid to reopen talks about a possible transfer this summer. Los Blancos were believed to have been interested in the player months ago, but negotiations stalled due to the player's high demands.

Now, with Rudiger's contract with the Premier League side set to expire at the end of the season, he reportedly wants to pursue the big move once more. The 29-year-old became even more motivated after being impressed by what he saw at the Santiago Bernabeu when Chelsea was booted out of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals earlier this month.

Real Madrid already had a 3-1 advantage from the first leg, but the Blues rallied in Spain to take a 4-3 lead on aggregate. Rudiger was one of the goal scorers in a performance that commentators called his "audition" to join Los Blancos.

Real Madrid came back from the dead to score two goals late in the second half to win the tie 5-4, and according to Marca, this convinced the German to revisit the transfer talks.

If Rudiger wants to convince the higher ups at Valdebebas, he would need to knock back the €55 million he was demanding between wages and transfer fees for a four-year deal. To put things in perspective, David Alaba arrived from Bayern Munich with a deal worth only €20 million in wages plus a €17.7 million bonus.

Real Madrid are planning to renew Eder Militao's contract as well, and with Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland also on the shopping list, it appears as though the club won't be too keen on splashing more cash around. In other words, Rudiger will need to make massive adjustments.

The German wants to secure his future soon, and those decisions will likely be affected by Chelsea's current ownership crisis. Roman Abramovich is in the process of selling the club, and until the takeover is complete, Chelsea won't be able to negotiate any contract renewals or transfers for Rudiger and any other players.