Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger has confirmed that Jose Mourinho tried to sign him for Tottenham in the summer.
Rudiger has been a prevalent figure at Stamford Bridge since Thomas Tuchel took the reins back in January, but had previously been frozen out under Frank Lampard.
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The Blues found themselves with good options in that area of the field, with Rudiger seemingly being adjudged to be the expendable one. Ultimately, a Chelsea player he remained.
The German World Cup winner, speaking ahead of the second-leg of Chelsea’s clash with Atletico Madrid tomorrow night, has now provided some insight into just how close he was to leaving.
Quoted by the Telegraph, Rudiger reveals that multiple clubs were interested in securing his services, including Tottenham, but no deal came to fruition.
“I was close (to leaving). There were really like two teams – mainly one – that I was considering and that was PSG, to be honest. There was one also with Mourinho. This is something that didn’t happen and with Tuchel also didn’t happen, so I was a bit upset, of course, because I knew my situation – I would not play that often.”
“But then I had the talk with the ex-coach, with Lampard, and all of a sudden I was back in the team, on the bench and also had a couple of games and everything, and worked my way back to it. The last games of his reign I was on the pitch and now obviously things are going very well for me, I’m very happy about it.”
“To be honest, I always felt well in the club, they treated me nice. No one told me – especially upstairs from the board – that I should leave, neither did Frank Lampard. At the end of the day, the transfers didn’t happen. The loans that I wanted didn’t happen, but nobody has ever told me I should leave.”
While he had to endure a period on the peripheral at Chelsea before forcing his way back into the side, Rudiger will surely be happy with his decision to see it out.
In Tuchel he has a manager who clearly trusts him and knows how to get the best out of him. At 28-years-old, he’s at the peak of his powers, so it’ll only be to Chelsea’s benefit, too.