Julian Nagelsmann was coy over Bayern Munich transfer links to Chelsea's Antonio Rudiger but joked he might need to look in his wallet if the German's contract is allowed to expire in the summer.
Rudiger entered talks over his deal following his return from EURO 2020 and Chelsea are keen to extend the deal but football.london understands the defender's demands have put the brakes on any potential breakthrough in negotiations.
Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich have all been linked in recent days, with the latter dealing with a similar situation as Niklas Süle's deal also expires at the end of the season
Rudiger has revealed he hasn't spoken to any club other than Chelsea thus far about his future. The Germany international had looked destined to leave before Thomas Tuchel arrived at the club as he struggled to earn a place in Frank Lampard's starting XI.
In great contrast, the 28-year-old has proved one of the new Blues boss' most trusted charges.
Nagelsmann was asked about Rudiger in a press conference and was quick to praise the impact of Tuchel
He said: "I'm generally not a big fan of talking about players who are under contract elsewhere, and besides, we're outside the transfer period.
"I'm talking about him now as a football fan because he is a German senior international. He has made a super development. Thomas [Tuchel] has handled him extremely well - he was still on the sidelines at Chelsea a year ago and is now certainly one of their most decisive players.
"He has incredibly good aggression and is a very good defender. I haven't spoken to Brazzo (Hasan Salihamidzic) about it and if I did, I wouldn't tell you either!
"I just read that in the media as well. I'll have to see when the contract expires and then I'll see if I still have money in my wallet!”
