Bayern Munich are preparing to lose centre-back Niklas Sule for free next summer after the defender decided against renewing his contract with the club. On their list of his replacements are Chelsea duo Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger.
As per Goal, Sule has decided against renewing his contract with the club and will be leaving on a free transfer in six months. The Bavarians were willing to offer the 26-year-old an annual salary of 10 million euros, but, despite the significant improvement on his current deal, he has decided to leave the club he joined back in 2017 from TSG Hoffenheim.
Barring any surprising developments, Sule will leave Bayern for pastures new after his contract expires on June 30, 2022. His four-and-a-half-years at the club have seen him accumulate 158 appearances – a tally he is sure to add to across the remainder of the season.
The German international has been linked with Chelsea and Newcastle United in recent weeks while there also are reports of interest from Spain, especially from FC Barcelona, who are on the lookout for shrewd deals.
Bayern, in turn, have decided to turn their attention towards Chelsea’s Andreas Christensen. The Dane finds himself in a similar situation; his contract expires in six months, and talks between the club and the player have hit a snag. Christensen has previous experience playing the Bundesliga from a two-year loan spell at Borussia Monchengladbach from 2015 till 2017.
The Denmark international has been a regular fixture of the Chelsea senior squad since he returned to his parent club in 2017, but, with several top European sides interested, his stay at Stamford Bridge could be reaching its conclusion.
The competition for Antonio Rüdiger is tough. Rangnick has a good relationship with his agent. Juventus, PSG and Bayern Munich are also interested. Rüdiger would cost €55m, including salary and a bonus, over four years #mulive [@MarioCortegana]
— utdreport (@utdreport) January 21, 2022
Christensen is not the only Chelsea player with an expiring contract and a wage requirement the club is unwilling to meet at the moment. Antonio Rudiger’s ongoing contractual stalemate with the Blues has been well documented and, despite the player confirming talks have reopened in recent weeks, interest from other clubs – Bayern included – persists.
