Antonio Rudiger had quite the season.
Last year he lost Frank Lampard’s trust – quite rightly to be honest, after some shocking moments.
But after Lampard was sacked this year, Rudiger was brought back into the fold by Thomas Tuchel to play in a back three, and he’s excelled ever since.
Kicker in his native Germany have a really interesting interview with the defender where he admits things got so bad that he almost left in January:
“I was really about to leave. It was the start of a season with a European Championship at the end, and then I felt it was my duty to look for alternatives to the DFB in order to get enough match practice,” Rudiger revealed. His next revelation was perhaps even more stunning:
“PSG and Thomas Tuchel were the most serious option. I also had contact with Tottenham Hotspur and José Mourinho, whom I really appreciate as a coach.”
Wow. Imagine that – the sliding doors moment to end all sliding doors moments. Rudiger could have ended up at Spurs with Jose, instead he’s in the Champions League and Jose has been sacked.
That move truly would have made Rudiger a villain, especially after the rumours about the former Roma man being connected to fan favourite Lampard’s sacking.
Instead, he now has the perfect chance to be a hero instead.
