"And now the end is near" might be the start of one of Frank Sinatra's most famous tunes, a dramatic tale fitting to underscore any conclusion. After months of speculation, we will likely finally find out Antonio Rudiger's way, either staying a part of life under Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge or departing for pastures new at only a handful of Europe's fellow richest clubs.
As Simon Johnson from The Athletic reported on Tuesday, the defender wants to make a decision on his future by the end of this month, as the club's takeover process drags on.
Rudiger, along with Andreas Christensen and Cesar Azpilicueta, has dominated the internal concern over contracts this season. Before the sanctioning of Roman Abramovich by the UK Government, they appeared to be of greatest concern to most supporters, particularly the future of Rudiger, who has transformed into one of the club's most valuable players over the past 12 months.
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But the defensive trio only scratch the surface of where the club's contract headaches lie. The situation is concerning beyond the three players mentioned.
Only three players currently contracted to the club have four years left. Those three are Romelu Lukaku, Armando Broja and Trevoh Chalobah. Edouard Mendy, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Ben Chilwell, Levi Colwill, Malang Sarr, Reece James, Conor Gallagher, Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner and Kai Havertz are on three years left.
Then of most concern, you start to get into the group of players with two years or below, usually when negotiations over a new deal should be of priority, or you start to consider selling them on. Those on two are Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mason Mount, Christian Pulisic, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Kenedy, Timeoue Bakayoko and Ethan Ampadu.
The midfield situation sticks out like a massive red flag, with only Gallagher on a three-year deal without an actual Premier League appearance for the club yet. With five midfielders on one-year left from this summer, the situation the club found themselves in with the defence this season.
The effect of this is the club has to invest in new players, which is a good thing, but when left unchecked for years, it increases the importance of a signing and likely increases what you are going to pay for that player.
Without taking into account clauses that could trigger extensions or the reality that the likes of Ross Barkley, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Kenedy and Michy Batshuayi are nowhere near Tuchel's plans, this graph is a perfect demonstration of where Chelsea's short-termism has led to.
In defence of the club's contract crisis this year, you will hear a lot of excuses trotted out. Be that a change in player form, those players rejecting contract offers this season, or the sales of younger defenders were also out of the club's own control. All of these responses buy into the dominant culture at Stamford Bridge of only working within six month-cycles. That a problem is only a problem worth dealing with when it's staring you directly in the face.
Part of an elite club's job is to mitigate an ongoing contract crisis like this. Plan for the future, try to ensure there are insurance policies, be that in a fresh academy graduate coming through to replace a senior player. Because even if this season's defensive crisis is averted with two of Rudiger, Christensen and Azpilicueta staying – the midfield takes its place for 2022/23, then you move along to the attacking midfield/winger area one year later.
This is the contract problem the incoming owners are going to have to resolve quickly, which inevitably means making some tough calls on players who are already down to their final two years. Chelsea has been praised across the Roman Abramovich era for being ruthless, but this graph tells a different story.
