Rudiger leaving Chelsea: John Terry makes his feelings clear on Instagram | OneFootball

Antonio Rudiger is set to leave Chelsea in the summer.

The German centre-back’s current deal expires at the end of the 2021/22 season and according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, he’s closing in on a move to Real Madrid.

Los Blancos have apparently reached a verbal agreement with Rudiger and the player is expected to sign a contract in the near future.

Sky Sports report that it will be a four-year deal, which will make him one of the highest-paid defenders in the world.

As free transfers go, it’s right up there with the finest in recent history – on paper at least.

Rudiger has evolved into one of the best defenders in the world under Thomas Tuchel’s leadership and he is still only 29 years of age.

His impending exit will be a hammerblow to Chelsea and the task of replacing him will not be an easy one at all.

Club legend John Terry is certainly aware of that. The former Blues centre-back has addressed the issue in a series of comments on Instagram and it’s safe to say he’s not happy at all.

In one comment, Terry even boldly claimed that Chelsea should have been prepared to pay Rudiger £300,000-a-week in wages…

Terry Instagram comments about Rudiger’s Chelsea situation

Has Terry hit the nail on the head there?

While £300,000-a-week is an outrageous amount of money, it may have proven to be a wise investment in the long run.

Chelsea will struggle to find a new centre-back who is as good as Rudiger and despite that, they will still have to cough up serious amounts of cash in transfer fees and wages to bring in a replacement.

However, the sanctions imposed on Chelsea certainly haven’t helped matters, something Tuchel touched on last weekend when discussing Rudiger’s forthcoming departure.

“It will be incredibly difficult because Toni is a big personality, a big leader and he takes fear away from other people,” he said.

“We will miss him a lot. It will be challenging but, no matter how much I love Toni and how big a role he has played, there will be life at Chelsea without Toni Rudiger. We will find solutions.

“We had big offers for him and the club tried everything but we cannot fight any more because we have the sanctions. Our hands are tied. We don’t take it personally. It is his decision.”