Chelsea's £68m transfer priority as Tuchel faces challenge

Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen are negotiating new contract terms and it seems that both defenders may make an exit in the summer. With that in mind, Jules Kounde may become Chelsea's main priority whilst Zouma has become a massive regret.

Well well well, it looks like Antonio Rudiger's time at Chelsea may be cut short after all. It's a sad day for me especially. I absolutely adore the German. But when life gives you lemons... well in this case sour limes.

It's a bitter-sweet feeling knowing there's a possibility that one of your best defenders could leave in the summer.

Bitter in the sense that Rudiger has had a massive turnaround in his Chelsea career and sweet because, well £300,000 per week is quite a big ask.

I mean it's definitely cheaper than buying a new defender overall - but this is why we should have maybe been patient with a certain Kurt Zouma.

Chelsea have been hoodwinked into leaving a couple of contracts a little bit too late. There's rarely a situation where the club have waited so long to renew player contracts. With Rudiger's form being questioned continuously under Frank Lampard, I assume that the board believed he would be on his way out.

His remontada under Thomas Tuchel however has come as a shock. The German is asking for wages that may just dismantle the wage structure at the Bridge. Can we blame the blues for not wanting to take that risk on the 28-year-old?

It begs the question of, "did Chelsea make a decision too early on Kurt Zouma?" or "was Chelsea not persistent enough to sign Jules Kounde?"

Over the summer Chelsea flirted with the idea of signing Kounde from Sevilla, however, things didn't quite go to plan.

Chelsea pulled out as Sevilla's asking price was just way too high. The Blues are set however to sign the defender if Sevilla are willing to lower their asking price back down to €50 million.

A ball-playing center-back is what Chelsea need under Thomas Tuchel and you won't find a more fitting player than Rudiger. Zouma is not as technically gifted as the German however he may have been a nice option to have just in case the Rudiger deal does fall through.

We need to remember that Rudiger is not the only defender that may be out of contract by the end of the season. Added to the list is Thiago Silva, Cesar Azpilicueta and Andreas Christensen.

Christensen's situation was believed to have been done and dusted until a couple of days ago where his agent threw a spanner in the works.

A five-year contract may no longer be in the plans for the Dane. Christensen has demanded a three-year contract instead and both parties do not seem to be budging on their demands. If this deal is not closed, then Zouma would definitely be a Chelsea regret.

It's off to the transfer window for Chelsea come January then. Marina Granovskaia and co will have some serious decision-making to do and it may end up in an ugly debacle.

Let's hope not for the sake of the fans. Let's give Christensen what he wants, let's get Kounde to the Bridge and perhaps make as much money as possible from an in-form Rudiger sale.

For the love of God, do something! Four defenders out of contract at the end of the season will be disastrous.

This article first appeared in Football.London.