Antonio Rudiger's Chelsea exit seemingly looks more likely with every passing day.
football.london understands that there has been no movement on the 28-year-old's contract negotiations since August with his representatives holding out for close to £200,000-a-week - more than double what he is currently earning.
A number of Chelsea supporters now believe that these demands are justified and his latest heroics to help win three points against bitter rivals Leeds United at the weekend have pushed these standstill negotiations back onto the agenda.
Nevertheless, as it looks like a new deal is no closer to being agreed, it's high time for the Blues to start looking at potential long-term alternatives, especially with the January transfer window now just a matter of days away.
One such target could be Bayern Munich's Niklas Sule, who is in a similar situation to Rudiger in Germany.
With his contract coming to an end in June 2022 - like his compatriot - Sule is permitted to talk to foreign clubs about a pre-contract agreement as early as January.
Although reports in November suggested that he'd re-opened talks with Bayern over a new deal, nothing has materialised as of yet.
The Blues do also face competition from Newcastle, who - as reported by Christian Falk last month, via tz.de - are interested in making him one of the first marquee signings under the new ownership on Tyneside.
Talks are said to have taken place, but nothing concrete has presented itself as things stand.
Given the Magpies' new financial status, a move for the German certainly has potential if they are indeed interested.
However, if the Blues were to make a move, they'd surely have the upper hand.
At 26, Sule is a ready made centre-back who's already won things at the top level. If a move isn't purely about the money, he'll likely be more tempted by the prospect of joining Chelsea than Newcastle who are still a long way away from competing.
Only time will tell, but it's a transfer that could well happen if Chelsea put their minds to it.
