Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger admits he turned down the opportunity to leave the club

Chelsea centre-back Antonio Rudiger has admitted that he turned down options to leave the club in the summer transfer window. Rudiger has not featured for Chelsea so far this season, with manager Frank Lampard preferring other options in defence.

Rudiger set to fight for his place at Chelsea

Antonio Rudiger was close to leaving Chelsea in the summer.

Rudiger has now stated that he will look to try and convince the manager of his quality as and when he gets the opportunity this season.

The Germany international has been ousted from the Chelsea line-up with the arrival of veteran centre-back Thiago Silva, who is one among the many big names that arrived at Stamford Bridge this summer.

Antonio Rudiger could easily have left Chelsea this summer...But he's prepared to fight for his spot in Frank Lampard's team 💪 pic.twitter.com/aJPQt69lcQ

— Goal (@goal) October 14, 2020

Rudiger was vital in securing two signings for Chelsea, with fellow German internationals Timo Werner and Kai Havertz joining the club after talking to the defender.

However, the form of young centre-backs Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen, as well as the arrival of Silva, has pushed Rudiger down the pecking order at Chelsea. Having joined the Blues from Roma in 2017 for £29 million, the 27-year-old has made more than 100 appearances in all competitions for the club.

Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Tottenham Hotspur were all linked as potential destinations for the player, but nothing materialised in the transfer window. With the Euros coming next year, it will be interesting to see whether the former Stuttgart player pushes for a move in the winter transfer window.

Chelsea were extremely busy in the transfer window, spending more than £200 million and bringing in Havertz, Werner, Silva, midfielder Hakim Ziyech, left-back Ben Chilwell and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.

A Transfer Window to remember 👇 #CFC➡ IN🇩🇪 Havertz🇩🇪 Werner🇲🇦 Ziyech🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Chilwell🇧🇷 Silva🇸🇳 Mendy🇫🇷 Sarr⬅ OUT🇪🇸 Morata🇪🇸 Pedro🇧🇷 Willian🇮🇹 Zappacosta (loan)🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Barkley (loan)🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Loftus-Cheek (loan)🇫🇷 Sarr (loan)🇧🇪 Batshuayi (loan)🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Ampadu (loan)

— CFC-Blues (@CFCBlues_com) October 8, 2020

The transfer spree looks set to continue in January with, West Ham United and former Chelsea academy player, Declan Rice a target for the club as manager Frank Lampard looks to bolster the midfield.

Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek left the club to join Aston Villa and Fulham on loan respectively. Midfielder Jorginho and defenders Rudiger, Marcos Alonso and Emerson Palmieri were linked with moves away, but there was no concrete action on that front.

Having had a slow start to their league campaign, Chelsea were eliminated from the EFL Cup on penalties by Tottenham Hotspur, and the pressure is now mounting on manager Frank Lampard.

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