Antonio Rudiger turned down a €10 million offer from Manchester United to join Madrid

Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger turned down an offer of a €10 million annual salary from Manchester United out of respect for Chelsea ahead of his move to Real Madrid.

According to sources close to the player, who has spent five seasons at Stamford Bridge, Rudiger’s main reason for not going to Manchester United was because he did not want to soil his relationship with Chelsea fans over the years.

On Thursday night when Chelsea played out a 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford, Roy Keane insisted he was certain his former club made an offer for the German defender.

“I think they probably did approach him but he’s thought to himself, ‘no, I want to go and win some trophies’, the former United captain said on SkySports.

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel confirmed last week the defender had confided in him he would leave the club in the summer after rejecting Chelsea’s final offer - reported to be in the region of £200,000 a week.

The club has also been handicapped following sanctions imposed due to owner Roman Abramovich’s ties to the Kremlin.

Sanctioning of the club meant they could not increase their offer and the defender and his entourage had to move quickly to protect their interests.

Despite his decision to move, Tuchel said the club tried everything within the current circumstances to keep him.

The German manager said: “I tried everything to convince him over the one-and-a-half years.

“I know that we made a great deal. I am convinced they have also made a very, very large offer for our circumstances.”

He added: “That’s my information. We haven’t been able to negotiate for a few weeks, we can’t add more, can’t do anything anymore because we have the sanctions against ourselves.

“And at this stage, it is of course bitter when your key player decides to change.”

There were offers of interest from Bayern Munich and PSG.

But the defender has decided to move to the Spanish capital of Madrid where he is expected to help them continue their dominance of Europe and the La Liga.