Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta wants the club to match multi-year contract offers from Spain if he is to extend his stay at Stamford Bridge beyond ten years, 90min reports.
The Spain international has become an unlikely club legend since signing from Marseille as a relatively unknown quantity in the summer of 2012, with the Club World Cup success earlier in February meaning he has won every trophy on offer in his time with Chelsea.
Azpilicueta’s current deal is set to expire at the end of the season, and the length of an extension is proving to be the sticking point in ongoing discussions over his future.
The 32-year-old has a two-year offer from Barcelona, with the option for a further year, and Atletico Madrid are also understood to have tabled a multi-year contract. However, Azpilicueta has recently suggested he is happy in London – where his children were born – and wants Chelsea to match the proposals from La Liga.
Chelsea are reluctant to do so at this stage, though. The Blues have the option of triggering a one-year extension to the defender’s current terms – something they are considering – but given his years of service to the club, they would rather come to a mutual agreement rather than force him to stay on a deal he is unhappy about.
Chelsea do not doubt that Azpilicueta could continue to play in the Premier League for at least two more years, but they would rather he stayed on rolling one-year contracts – as is their normal policy for players over 30.
Blues head coach Thomas Tuchel was asked about Azpilicueta’s unresolved future last week. “Well the future of the players I like to be resolved normally immediately or not even in discussion, in the ideal world,” he said.
“We do not live in the ideal world, though, so I think the contract situation with Azpi is pretty clear. It is not the biggest pressure on this subject but as you know, we have some other players also with contractual situations that are not fully solved.
“This is not ideal. This is also nobody’s particular fault. This can happen sometimes in the moment we deal with it, and Azpi deals with it very professionally and I do not have the feeling that it affects any of his performances.
“We are on it behind closed doors. This is where it needs to be dealt with.”
The Spaniard’s fellow defenders Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen are also into the final months of their contracts, and the club is growing fearful that all three players could walk away in the summer.
Source: 90min.com
