Antonio Rudiger has shed some light on Frank Lampard’s reign as Chelsea manager between 2019 and 2021.
Lampard led Chelsea to fourth in the Premier League under a transfer embargo before being sacked in his second season.
He later returned as caretaker boss at the end of last season, but Rudiger had left by that time.
He said: ‘To be honest, I still can’t say exactly what happened back then. That’s part of football.
Antonio Rudiger has spoken about his struggles to get game time under Frank Lampard at Chelsea
Lampard was Chelsea’s permanent boss from 2019 to 2021 but reduced Rudiger’s game time in his second season
‘Maybe he [Lampard] had other ideas or saw other players better. But the good thing about football is that the answer is on the pitch and I think I gave the perfect one.
‘Nothing like that has ever happened in my career. I even played under Lampard again at the end of his tenure. Let me put it this way: if it doesn’t fit at some point, then it doesn’t fit anymore. But no footballer in this world loses on purpose.
‘I really wanted to leave. I wanted to leave. I wanted to join Paris Saint-Germain, that was my wish,
Rudiger explained that he wanted to move to PSG to work under Thomas Tuhcel, who he considered to have an ‘honest manner’.
While he didn’t get his dream move, Lampard was sacked in January 2021 and Tuchel was named as his replacement, so in a way he got what he wished for.
Rudiger had wanted to join Thomas Tuchel at PSG, but the German coach replaced Lampard at Chelsea and led them to Champions League glory
Tuchel’s reign at Stamford Bridge saw Rudiger restored to the starting line-up and he remained in West London until the summer of 2022, when he moved to Real Madrid.
The 2020/21 season saw Chelsea win the Champions League under Tuchel as the German coach had a similar impact to Roberto Di Matteo in 2012.
