Rudiger already made up his mind to leave Chelsea – Merson claims

Former Arsenal star and pundit Paul Merson has claimed in a recent statement that Chelsea key defender Antonio Rudiger has already made up his mind to leave the club.

So far, Rudiger is yet to reach a new agreement with Chelsea on a new deal as his current contract will lapse at the end of this season.

The German defender has been linked moves away from England and seems to be ready to bid goodbye to Stamford Bridge.

However, some Chelsea supporters are still hoping that Rudiger will still be wearing blue next season, but as Merson has suggested n his column for the Daily Star, staying is looking more and more unlikely.

“Chelsea are going to miss Antonio Rudiger when he goes because it will take £60-70m to replace him,” he said.

“Rudiger is definitely leaving. If he wanted to sign a new contract he would have done it by now. There’s no chance he stays now.”

Merson stressed that it was not Thomas Tuchel’s fault as the German defender had made up his mind to leave when Frank Lampard had him out of the team.

“And even though he’s been phenomenal since Tuchel brought him back in, and they won the Champions League, Rudiger hasn’t forgotten,” Merson added.