Antonio Rudiger has admitted that he came close to leaving Chelsea last summer and even spoke with Jose Mourinho about a possible move to Tottenham Hotspur.
Tottenham were linked with a deadline day move for Rudiger last summer after their move for Inter Milan’s Milan Skriniar collapsed.
The Athletic’s David Ornstein revealed that Spurs made a loan offer which Chelsea accepted but the German international was not keen on making a temporary move to North London since he felt it could be problematic for him to return to Chelsea afterwards.
There were some suggestions that the 28-year-old could leave Stamford Bridge during the January transfer window but he stayed put at the club.
Rudiger has become an integral part of the side since Thomas Tuchel took over at Chelsea after often being overlooked under Frank Lampard.
The centre-back has now admitted that Tottenham were one of two clubs that were interested in signing him last summer.
Rudiger told Sky Sports: “I was close (to leaving). There were really like two teams, maybe one team I was considering, that was PSG to be honest.
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“There was (a) call also with Mourinho, but this is something at the end of the day that didn’t happen, and with Tuchel also, (but it) didn’t happen.
“I was upset of course because I knew my situation and wouldn’t play that often.”
Spurs Web Opinion
A lot of Spurs fans seemed to be quite unenthusiastic about the idea of getting Rudiger last summer but Mourinho’ judgement has been proven right based on the number of errors the likes of Dier, Sanchez and Alderweireld have made.
I believe that if we had signed Rudiger, who is very good in one vs one situations, that would have made a massive difference to not just our defending but potentially allowed us to be braver going forward.
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