Chelsea plot new contracts for top stars including Mason Mount, N’Golo Kante and Jorginho

James Robson @jamesrobsonES21 September 2021

Chelsea want to secure the futures of a host of key players once new deals for Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger are finalised.

N’Golo Kante and Jorginho have both entered the final two years of their respective contracts, while Mason Mount is expected to be rewarded after establishing himself as a mainstay for club and country.

Christensen is closing in on a long-term deal worth around £120,000-a-week after reigniting his Stamford Bridge career under Thomas Tuchel.

The Dane was one of the stars of last season’s Champions League triumph and has been in outstanding form so far this term.

Tuchel made it clear to Chelsea chief Marina Granovskaia and technical and performance director Petr Cech that the 25-year-old was a key part of his squad, despite doubts over whether he would make it at the club as recently last season.

Attempts to tie down Rudiger have not gone so smoothly, with the Germany international believed to be holding out for around £200,000-a-week. Tuchel admitted last week that talks with the 28-year-old had slowed.

He is able to sign a pre-contract with foreign suitors from January, with Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid leading contenders for his signature and Bayern Munich also monitoring the situation. It has left Chelsea running out of time to strike a deal with the centre-back after allowing him to enter the final year of his contract.

“I hope that they find solutions, but it's not only between coaches and players, and what we wish for,” said Tuchel. “And that's why it's between the club and the player’s agent at the moment.

“He's in the strongest league in Europe, in a big club, so not many reasons to change that. But in the end it's between him and the club, and that's in good hands.”

While Christensen and Rudiger are seen as immediate priorities with both becoming free agents next summer, Chelsea are also keen to get their long-term planning in place for players considered vital to the club’s hopes of success.

They want to avoid any uncertainty over Kante and Jorginho, who have deals until the summer of 2023. There is less urgency over England international Mount, but he is expected to join the higher earners at Stamford Bridge after developing into one of the stars of European football since signing his last deal in 2019.

Chelsea have planned negotiations with Kante and Jorginho since the end of last season when they starred in the club’s Champions League run. Both are seen as contenders for the Ballon d’Or, with Jorginho already being named Uefa Player of the Year and Kante the best midfielder in Europe.

Mason Mount and N’Golo Kante are both in line for new Chelsea contracts
Chelsea FC via Getty Images

Tuchel hailed Kante as unique after he turned Sunday’s 3-0 win against Tottenham as a second-half substitute.

Jorginho’s agent has talked up a return to Italy after next year’s World Cup, but Chelsea plan to have his position resolved long before that and do not intend to have a repeat of the Rudiger situation.

Captain Cesar Azpilicueta is also out of the contract at the end of the season, but claimed last week that he was calm about securing an extension.

He is another player who has seen his career revitalised by Tuchel and praised the German’s impact since his arrival in January.

“Him and his staff showed and explained what he wanted from the team and individually,” he said. “That takes a lot of work and a great way of communicating.

“Since he arrived we created that identity, we have kept improving and I am sure we will have to improve in the future if we want to keep winning trophies.

“I see a talented squad with ambition to be the team that want to push forward and that is what we have to do.”

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