‘I would jump on a plane’: Craig Burley says he would leave Chelsea right now if he was in £29m player’s shoes

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Craig Burley has told Antonio Rudiger what he would do if he was in a similar position to the Chelsea defender.

Speaking on ESPN, Burley admitted he would be looking for the first flights out of South West London had his situation got to the same stage as the German international.

The end of the road for Rudiger

It appears Rudiger will in fact be touching down on a foreign runway over the summer.

Throughout the season, supporters have been forced to fret over the future of the centre-back.

That was until yesterday, when their fears were finally answered.

After Chelsea’s 1-0 victory against West Ham United, Thomas Tuchel revealed his fellow countryman is set to leave Stamford Bridge once the campaign has concluded.

The club had tried desperately to tie down the 29-year-old as he entered into the final stretch of his contract.

However, despite the efforts of the board and Tuchel himself, a decision has seemingly been made.

Although nothing has officially been confirmed, all the signs point towards the exit door.

A door that might well lead to Real Madrid, who are reportedly ahead of the pack in the race to sign the £29m (BBC) superstar.

Rudiger to Real?

Moving to Spain appears to be the most likely option, one that Burley endorsed entirely.

“If I was Antonio Rudiger, I’d leave,” confessed the former Chelsea player.

“One, we don’t know how the ownership is going to be and are they going to put the same amount of money in as the previous owner? No, I don’t think they will.

“Two, do I want to be playing for a club at this point of my career that are still a fair chunk away from Liverpool and City, having gone out and bought what they thought was the missing piece last summer in Romelu Lukaku?

“If I was Antonio Rudiger, bearing in mind Chelsea’s league position, bearing in mind Chelsea’s problems with the sanctions and ownership, and they need to go out and replenish and replace Lukaku again, if I was Antonio Rudiger, I would jump on a plane and I would leave.

“That’s not down to sanctions, I think he would’ve left anyway.”

Whilst we want to disagree with Burley, it’s difficult to see past anything other than a Rudiger farewell party.

Perhaps not for the reason given above, because Chelsea could well challenge City and Liverpool with the right additions in the next transfer market.

But after umming and ahhing for so long over a new deal, we surely all saw this scenario coming.

Thank you for everything, Antonio, you will never be forgotten.

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