Thomas Tuchel has recalled the concerning moment Antonio Rudiger knocked on his door at the Chelsea training ground as he prepared to call time on his five-year stint at Stamford Bridge.
Rudiger's impending exit for Real Madrid is one of the many problems the Blues have faced since their Premier League title hopes began to fade. First it was Romelu Lukaku’s disruptive interview where he said he would “return” to play for Inter Milan, then it was the noise around Roman Abramovich which led to the Russian owner’s decision to sell up.
And after crashing out of the Champions League despite beating Real Madrid 2-3 at the Santiago Bernabeu, Tuchel’s latest headache has been the future of one of the Premier League’s most reliable defenders. In a fresh update, the German manager has opened up on the moment he knew Rudiger would leave the club.
He said: “When Toni knocks at your door one hour before training, it’s not a good sign. Normally he doesn’t knock - he just grabs you in between and tells you something, so everybody thought this is not looking good.
“Then we had this brief conversation. First of all, I appreciated that he came and told me. I was one of the first and that shows me we have a relationship where we handle things directly and honestly and are not afraid to tell each other what we think.”
Despite the fact he will soon depart West London, Rudiger drew lavish praise from his compatriot. Tuchel declared the centre-back is “not the guy you need to take out to 10 dinners and 12 coffees to talk him into something” – and that now Rudiger has made up his mind, the pair are on “good terms”.
Who should Chelsea sign to replace Antonio Rudiger? Have your say in the comments!
The Blues boss added: “He has strong opinions, which is part of his personality. He demands clarity and honesty but it’s very low maintenance with him.” Rudiger will not be easy to replace and Chelsea’s other dependable centre-back is 37 years old – although you would not bet against Thiago Silva to just keep on going.
It may well be time for academy product Trevoh Chalobah to step up and become a Chelsea regular. But according to La Razon, the Blues might be prepared to spend £50m to bring in Pau Torres from Villarreal. The Spaniard did a respectable job keeping Liverpool quiet on Wednesday until a Pervis Estupinan own goal opened the floodgates – and he was one of the architects of the Yellow Submarine's quarter-final triumph over Bayern Munich.
But the loss of Antonio Rudiger is far from ideal and Tuchel admitted: “I was disappointed but not on a personal level. It’s his right to figure out what opportunities he had and it’s his right to change clubs. I did not like it and he knows that we did not like it but we had big players with injuries before for many weeks or months and life does not stop.”
