Ange Postecoglou has already revealed the outcome of Tottenham's Antonio Rudiger bid

Tom Weber

16 Feb 2026 10:30 CST
5 min read

Tottenham have held talks with Chelsea fan favourite Antonio Rudiger over a free transfer when his Real Madrid contract expires, according to a report.

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The Germany international has seen his influence in the Spanish capital wane this season. Lengthy injuries have restricted Rudiger to just 10 appearances so far this term.

The 32-year-old's contract expires in the summer, and while it was previously thought that Real Madrid were desperate to tie him down to fresh terms, this no longer seems to be the case.

Los Blancos still value the defender's expertise and experience, but there is growing talk of a departure. Should he indeed become available as a free agent, Rudiger would have no shortage of suitors, despite his injury problems in recent seasons.

The veteran centre-back is a long-standing target for the Saudi Pro League, but he also has plenty of admirers around Europe. Despite his age, several Premier League clubs are interested in signing the former Chelsea superstar.

Spurs hold Rudiger talks - but there's a problem

There have been suggestions that the Blues themselves are among the clubs looking to bring Rudiger back to England, but CaughtOffside reports that these claims are wide of the mark.

Instead, Crystal Palace, Tottenham and West Ham have been in talks over a Bosman deal for the 32-year-old. This is interesting because a move to any one of these clubs would necessitate a significant pay reduction.

Rudiger is currently on a reported salary of up to €361,000 per week at Real Madrid, including bonuses. That is around €80,000 more than Tottenham's highest earners, Xavi Simons and Cristian Romero.

Indeed, Spurs' wage structure has been the subject of quite intense discourse in recent years. Despite being one of the biggest clubs in England, Tottenham's payroll does not reflect this. It is thought that the North London side spends less than Aston Villa on player salaries.

Former Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou reignited the discussion over this topic last week on The Overlap, when he suggested that Spurs are "not a big club" because of their wage structure.

The Australian argued that there is a significant discrepancy between the expectations of fans and club bosses and the financial reality that Tottenham operate in. The spending simply does not match the ambitions.

"They’ve built an unbelievable stadium, unbelievable training facilities," he said. "But when you look at the expenditure, particularly, you know, in their wages structure, they’re not a big club. I saw that because when we were trying to sign players, we weren’t in the market for those players.

"At the end of my first year, when we finished fifth, we had to sign Premier League-ready players, but finishing fifth that year didn’t get us Champions League. We ended up signing Dom Solanke and three teenagers.

"Tottenham as a club were saying we’re one of the big boys. And the reality is, I don’t think they are, in terms of my experience over the last two years. When Arsenal need players, they’ll spend 100 million on Declan Rice. I don’t see Tottenham doing that.

"When you walk into Tottenham, what you see everywhere is 'to dare is to do.' It’s everywhere. And yet their actions are almost the antithesis of that, right? I think what they didn’t realise is that to actually win, you’ve got to take some risks at some point. And that’s the DNA of the club."

In order to do a deal for Rudiger, one party would have to make major concessions. Either Tottenham break their wage structure and start spending like "one of the big boys" or the German takes a significant pay cut.

Frustratingly for Spurs fans, the former appears to be an unlikely scenario, making a deal for the Real Madrid star unrealistic. That said, few clubs in the world would be prepared to break their wage structure to sign a 32-year-old.

But with Cristian Romero being courted by Real Madrid and Liverpool reportedly interested in Micky van de Ven, Spurs would be well advised to start showing more ambition financially. Otherwise, this season and the previous one will become the rule rather than the exception.

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