Tottenham Hostpur have been dealt a major blow in their bid to bring Antonio Rudiger to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the summer transfer window.
What's the talk?
That's according to a report by Football Insider, who claim that a Tottenham source has revealed that, despite Fabio Paratici's continual pursuit of the Chelsea centre-back, Spurs now look unlikely to get a transfer over the line for the 28-year-old this summer, as a deal for the Germany international has escalated out of the north London side's price range.
The report goes on to state that Rudiger, who looks set to become available on a free transfer upon the expiry of his current contract at Stamford Bridge at the end of the season, is seeking a contract worth £300k-per-week, something that would break Tottenham's current wage structure - in which Harry Kane is the club's top earner on around £200k-a-week.
Finally, it is suggested that the latest twist in Spurs pursuit of the defender will come as a huge blow to Antonio Conte, who personally sanctioned the pursuit of the former AS Roma colossus after signing the centre-back for Chelsea back in 2017.
Conte will be seething
With it being well-documented that Conte would like to bring in defensive reinforcements to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in order to better implement his three-man backline, the news that Spurs now appear to be out of the race to land Rudiger this summer is sure to have left the 52-year-old seething.
Indeed, it is easy to see why the Italian was so eager to secure a deal for the 28-year-old, as the £31.5m-rated defender has been imperious for the Blues since his arrival four and a half years ago - earning seasonal SofaScore match ratings of 6.99, 6.97, 7.00 and 7.26 over his four complete campaigns in West London.
The £100k-per-week German has once again impressed over his 23 Premier League appearances this season, helping the Blues keep nine clean sheets and scoring two goals, as well as making an average of one interception, 1.2 tackles, 2.7 clearances, 59.5 passes and winning 61% of his duels per game.
These returns have seen the player who Rio Ferdinand dubbed both "unbelievable" and "like an animal" average an outstanding SofaScore match rating of 7.07, ranking him as Thomas Tuchel's 12th-best performer in the top flight of English football.
As such, it is clear for all to see that Rudiger would be a considerable upgrade on a number of Conte's current options in the heart of his Tottenham defence, while it is also obvious as to why the news that Spurs now look to be out of the race for the Chelsea star will have left the 52-year-old manager livid.
In other news: "Mistake after mistake": £27m-rated Spurs "liability" must never play for Conte again