Chelsea blocked star’s exit on deadline day by refusing to answer phone calls

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Bleacher Report’s Dean Jones has shed some light on the reason why Chelsea outcast Antonio Rudiger failed to secure an exit from the club on deadline day.

Jones reported on Monday night that Chelsea actually refused to answer calls regarding the centre-back, subsequently making it extremely ‘difficult’ for a deal to be struck for the defender.

The Telegraph reported that an exit seemed destined for the centre-back after he was left out of the matchday squad for the Carabao Cup tie against Barnsley two weeks ago.

Rudiger’s international boss, Joachim Low, has since confirmed in a press conference via Goal that the 27-year-old ‘tried everything’ to leave before the transfer window closed for most of Europe.

Rudiger has not made an appearance for Frank Lampard’s side in any of this season’s six games, with the defender only making the matchday squad on one occasion.

A couple of injury troubles over the past two seasons have massively derailed Rudiger’s career at Chelsea after an initially encouraging start after he joined from Roma in the summer of 2017.

The Germany international hasn’t looked like the same player since, Rudiger was unconvincing in 26 appearances last season but has now found himself at the bottom of the pecking order.

Since the start of the season Lampard has called on Thiago Silva, Kurt Zouma, Andreas Christensen and Fikayo Tomori ahead of the German, leaving him bottom of the club’s pile of senior centre-back options.

We’ll see if Chelsea’s decision to block an exit is the right one over the course of the season, whilst Rudiger doesn’t seem likely to feature much in the first-team anytime soon, the Blues’ defence is still developing so holding onto another option in case things slip isn’t exactly the worst thing.

Lampard has also called on a 3-4-3 formation at times since being appointed as boss, so retaining Rudiger as an extra option would be necessary if they call on this tactic anytime soon.

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