'I'm super excited for the challenges ahead' - Rüdiger departs Chelsea to sign for Real Madrid

Real Madrid have confirmed that they have reached an agreement to sign Chelsea defender Antonio Rüdiger on a four-year deal when his contract at the Stamford Bridge side comes to an end later this month. The Germany international will join Madrid on a free transfer and be presented to fans and the media next week. 

In a statement on the player’s instagram account, Rüdiger said: “I'm proud to announce that I'll be joining Real Madrid. I'm super excited for all the challenges ahead and can't wait to play my first games for this huge club.” The player had previously confirmed his decision to leave Chelsea and posted a thank you message to the club’s fans one week prior, stating that the “club will always remain special to me.” 

According to Spanish newspaper Marca, the negotiations between the defender and his new club didn’t exactly go smoothly, with Madrid only finally getting their target after “months of back and forth”, which involved the player only committing to Los Blancos after a second attempt to sign him. The first attempt reportedly came at the end of 2021, but following Chelsea’s precarious financial situation due to being sold, the player apparently decided to draw a line under negotiations with the Premier League club and opted for a move to Carlo Ancelotti’s side. 

Rüdiger departs Chelsea - now set to join Alaba in Madrid defence

According to the aforementioned Spanish publication, Rüdiger is set to pick up a signing-on bonus of no less than €8 million and an annual salary of €9m per season. Over the course of his four-year deal with the club, that should work out at a wage of €44m in total - which is €11m less than the salary originally quoted as the player’s demand. When coupled with a reported agents fee of €15m, it means that Madrid will likely spend around €60m on Rüdiger over the course of his four-year deal, which is a remarkable amount of money considering that he is set to join as a “free” transfer. 

However, despite joining the club as a statement signing, Rüdiger may have to work hard for first team football in Ancelotti’s team this season. Following the arrival of David Alaba from Bayern Munich last summer, Madrid have found great success with the defensive pairing of the Austrian international and Brazilian talent Éder Militão. So much so that Ancelotti’s side won the La Liga title and the Champions League in no small part due to their contributions in defence. Whether Rüdiger can break into that starting XI in place of either defender remains to be seen.