The adviser and half-brother of Rudiger, Sahr Senesie, met with Barca sporting director Mateu Alemany and his deputy Jordi Cruyff for secret negotiations in a restaurant in Barcelona.

The meeting lasted for three hours in which they sat together drinking wine and water, discussing a potential move for Rudiger to Barca in the summer.

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The Spanish giants are ready to go full throttle to sign the defender on a free transfer as he fits exactly into the requirement profile of the Catalans.

The 29-year-old's current contract expires in the summer so he can talk to clubs outside of England with Rudiger's representatives also remaining in dialogue with other top European clubs, including Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.

Negotiations with Chelsea on a contract extension have stalled for over nine months, but staying at Chelsea has not been ruled out with much depending on the resolution of the ownership of the club.

Currently, Chelsea are unable to act due to sanctions against Russian owner Roman Abramovich.

Sky Sports News reported earlier this month Juventus have also proposed a deal - while two Premier League clubs are keeping an eye on his situation.

A final decision on his next club is unlikely to be made until the summer.

Azpilicueta triggers contract extension

Cesar Azpilicueta's contract at Chelsea has been extended until the summer of 2023.

The Spain defender reached the minimum number of games needed to trigger an automatic one-year extension earlier this month.

His deal was due to expire on June 30 - one of four Chelsea players in this situation along with Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and Charly Musonda.

Barcelona have an interest in the 32-year-old Azpilicueta and centre-back Christensen.

Reports in Spain claim Christensen has verbally agreed to join Barcelona - but Sky Sports News understands Christensen has not informed Chelsea if this is the case.

With Azpilicueta now requiring a transfer fee to sign him, Barca are currently focusing their attentions on signing Ajax right-back Noussair Mazraoui, who is also set to become a free agent,

However, they face strong competition from Bayern Munich.

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