The situation
It’s official. Antonio Rudiger, a 29-year-old German central defender, is already a Real Madrid player. The white entity announced it around 1:30 p.m. this Thursday on his website. The player, whose contract ended this June with Chelsea, arrives at the Bernabeu at zero cost. He will sign for four seasons, until 2026, so he will end his contract at 33 years old. Rüdiger will receive an amount close to 10 million euros, bonuses included (in reality, there are seven fixed), the same salary step as Alaba, who also arrived at no additional transfer cost for Real Madrid.
The details
The player was exultant in his social networks. “I am proud to announce that I will join Real Madrid. I am very excited for all the challenges ahead and I can’t wait to play my first games for this great club. #HalaMadrid #AlwaysBelieve #Hustle…”. For its part, Real Madrid praised him in the official statement. “Our team is reinforced by one of the best defenders in the world, a starter for the German national team who comes from Chelsea. The English club has been a key player in winning 1 Champions League, 1 Europa League, 1 Club World Cup, 1 European Super Cup and 1 England Cup, and has also been included in the Champions League ideal team in the two recent seasons.” With the signing of Rüdiger, Real Madrid continues the process of renewing the squad that began a few years ago. The first consequence of hiring him is the change of role for Alaba, who will begin to play more in the position of left-back, in which he excelled so much at Bayern. Like Alaba, Rüdiger is a versatile player who can also play in the right-back position. Real Madrid has also announced that the official presentation will be on June 20 at 12:00. The hiring of the German was already a fact since last May 10, the day he passed the medical examination with which the agreement between Real Madrid and the player was made effective. Rüdiger will have a termination clause of 450 million euros.