Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger is inching closer to the exit door as he nears the final six months of his contract.
That is according to a report by ESPN which states that the club and the player remain some way apart in negotiations over a new deal.
Rudiger has established himself as an integral part of Thomas Tuchel's team in the last few months.
Chelsea had been hoping to tie the Germany international down to fresh terms which would keep him at Stamford Bridge into next season and beyond.
But Rudiger, who has been linked with a move to Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, wants to keep his options open for the time being.
And the European champions are starting to lose hope in their bid to retain the central defender.
Madrid and Bayern, meanwhile, are growing increasingly confident of prising Rudiger away from Chelsea.
Only one of them will be able to do so, of course, but the Blues now face an uphill battle to keep hold of arguably their most important centre-back.
Their discussions with Rudiger and his representatives have stalled in recent weeks.
The former Roma man is thought to be open to signing a new deal with Chelsea, but the club are not currently willing to meet his wage demands.
Rudiger earns £100,000 per week at present and he wants to double his wages in order to stay.
Chelsea have offered £150,000 per week and have not yet shown any indication that they are willing to go beyond that figure.
Rudiger believes he can get paid more at Bayern or Madrid, who would be able to sign a top-class defender without a transfer fee.
Foreign sides will be able to open talks with the German as soon as the transfer window opens in January.
Rudiger could even sign a pre-contract agreement with a non-Premier League team before completing his switch next summer.
Chelsea are running out of time to convince the 28-year-old to commit his future to the club.
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