Antonio Rudiger reveals how close he was to leaving Chelsea for Tottenham or PSG last summer

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Antonio Rudiger has confirmed Jose Mourinho’s attempts to take him to Tottenham last summer – but insists he was closer to a move to Paris Saint-Germain.

The Germany international looked set to leave Chelsea after being pushed down the pecking order by the arrival of Thiago Silva. 

It was former PSG coach Thomas Tuchel who wanted to take him to Paris, and has since made him a key part of his defence since taking over at Stamford Bridge in January. 

Rudiger ended up staying at Chelsea – but has revealed how close he was to leaving, with Mourinho eager to offer him a way out. 

“I was close,” he said. “There were really like two teams — mainly one — that I was considering; that was PSG, to be honest. 

“There was one also with Mourinho. This is something at the end of the day 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 (Frank) 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. 

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“To be honest, I always felt well in the club, they treated me nice. No one told me - especially upstairs form the board - told me 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.”

Rudiger will enter the final year of his contract at the end of the season and has made it clear he wants to stay. 

He added: “Everyone, me and the club know how much I like this club and everything so it’s down to people who make these types of decisions. But, at the moment for me, it’s to concentrate on important matches and targets. The rest, I think I’m sure we will resolve it.”

Rudiger has enjoyed a remarkable turnaround under Tuchel and is now a key figure in a defence that has kept 1o clean sheets in 12 games under the new manager. 

He has given an insight into his feelings when pushed to the fringes under Lampard.

“I was shocked,” he said. “Okay, shocked is the wrong word. Not really shocked, but some things I saw coming. 

“Obviously that I was not in the squad I didn’t see coming, but at the end of the day I took it on the chin.”

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