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Chelsea's convincing 3-0 win over Leicester City on Saturday meant they stayed top of the Premier League with just four goals conceded. Yet one of their defensive stars Antonio Rudiger is out of contract at the end of the season - although manager Thomas Tuchel believes there is no reason to worry at the present moment.
Rudiger, 28, joined Chelsea in 2017 in a £30million transfer from Roma.
Having had a slow Chelsea career under Frank Lampard, with the Englishman preferring Kurt Zouma, it was unsure whether Rudiger would continue at Chelsea under Tuchel.
But the German duo have blossomed together in the ten months they have shared at Stamford Bridge, winning the Champions League and becoming the top side in the Premier League this season.
Rudiger has become one of Chelsea's best players under Tuchel, although there is a nagging doubt over his future given that he has less than a year left on his contract.
Thomas Tuchel masterminded a 3-0 win over Leicester City on Saturday (Image: GETTY)
But Tuchel has dismissed his departure, claiming the Berlin-born defender wants to stay at the club despite 'a delay' in Marina Granovskaia transfer talks.
"Everybody wants him to stay," Tuchel said.
"This is pretty clear but sometimes there's a delay in these things and there is obviously a delay.
"But I think on the same side he knows what he has and which club he plays. Fantastic club, fantastic league.
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Antonio Rudiger has become a key figure in Chelsea's side (Image: GETTY)
"I think we played a good game, a good away game, we have an excellent result so it’s a good mix, we created a lot of chances and half-chances, were a bit unlucky with the offside decisions, but I’m happy we created and never stopped creating and that was the key," Tuchel said.
"You have to decide the game when it’s possible to decide. I thought we could be more precise, we could be more clinical in the last third in the first half because we played with such effort.
"We had such good ball recoveries high up the pitch, we were good in finding the spaces with the ball.