Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that the centre-back has expressed his intention to leave the club at the end of the season. 

Talking about the player, Tuchel said to Sky Sports, "The situation is that he wants to leave the club. He informed me of this in a private talk.”

Rudiger, who turned 29 this March, will be a free agent come summer. The defender was linked with several clubs over the past few months, with Juventus, Real Madrid and Barcelona all showing interest.

In the latest report, MARCA has confirmed that Madrid have positioned themselves as clear favourites and a deal could be made this week.

The report also states that Los Blancos have put a four-year contract on the table. While an agreement could be reached as early as this week, no official announcements will be made before the end of the season.

Carlo Ancelotti already has three top-notch centre-halves at his disposal in David Alaba, Eder Militao and Nacho Fernandez, and Rudiger’s arrival could give the Madrid boss the option to deploy Alaba in his preferred left-back position.