Antonio Rudiger SIGNS for Real Madrid after putting pen to paper on a four-year deal, worth £315,000 a week… as LaLiga giants slap £340M release clause on the German defender, who will leave Chelsea for nothing this summer
- Antonio Rudiger has completed his move to Real Madrid, signing a four-year deal
- The German defender will leave Chelsea at the end of the season as a free agent
- Rudiger will earn roughly £8m a year at the Bernabeu as well as a signing bonus
- Real have also slapped a huge £340million release clause on the centre back
Real Madrid have inserted a £340million release clause into Antonio Rudiger’s contract after the Chelsea defender completed his move to Spain on Tuesday.
The Germany star has signed a four-year contract with the LaLiga side worth in the region of £315,000-per-week. He will also net a signing on fee that will take his wage significantly north of that figure.
Sportsmail exclusively revealed in December that Rudiger was in line to earn £400,000-per-week if he was to leave Chelsea.
Antonio Rudiger completes his move to Real Madrid, putting pen-to-paper on a four-year deal
Rudiger has been one of the Blues’ most important players but will now leave for nothing
Sources close to the deal have also indicated that Rudiger’s release clause at Madrid will be €400m (£342m).
An official announcement is not expected until the end of May or start of June.
The eye-watering financial package is worth significantly more than the £230,000-per-week deal Chelsea were offering him to stay at Stamford Bridge.
However, Rudiger turned down bigger offers from elsewhere in Europe to sign for Real, who were the defender’s first-choice destination ever since talks opened in January.
Manchester United, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus were all interested in Rudiger.
Rudiger, who had always been open to staying at Chelsea, will find it a wrench to leave the Blues, particularly current head coach Thomas Tuchel with whom he has formed a close bond – but the prestige of joining Real was too tempting to turn down.
Rudiger turned down the chance to stay with Thomas Tuchel (right) and will now instead join Carlo Ancelotti (left) at the Bernabeu in the summer
