In recent months, Antonio Rudiger's name has often appeared in the transfer news section of major media outlets. The German centre-back's contract with Chelsea is coming to an end this summer, but Rudiger's future is still in the air, with Real Madrid rumored to be the closest club he has gone with.
When you look closely at Rudiger's performance on the pitch, you will understand why so many strong teams are interested in Rudiger – he seems to be a player with unlimited motivation on the pitch, strong, positive, scrappy, defensively fierce, and his performance in the back line is impressive.
Born on 3 March 1993 in Berlin, the German capital, Rudiger grew up in Neukölln, a region known for its rampant crime. His father Matthias and his mother Lily fled Sierra Leone in 1991 due to a bloody civil war and met in Germany, and two years later Antonio Rudiger was born, the half-brother of former German player Saar Sernecht of Sierra Leonean descent, who is currently Rudiger's agent.
Rudiger did not follow the most common path to professional football, he only took the first steps in professional football at the age of 15, which is a little later than many well-known players. In street football, Rudiger has honed his abilities and has tried many positions, such as striker and midfielder, and even goalkeeper. Off the pitch, Rudiger gives the impression of being quiet and sedate, but on the pitch he seems to be a different person – from his youth, Rudiger has shown a brash and aggressive style of play. Because of his enthusiasm and selflessness, Rudiger received a lot of praise, in a youth team match, Rudiger had the opportunity to face the empty goal, but he waited for his teammates to come forward and give the ball to his teammates to score - before that, his teammate had never scored a goal.
In fact, one aspect of Lüdiger's great interest lies in his colorful personality. Although Rudiger occasionally showed a fondness for "well-intentioned pranks," He was in fact a sympathetic, gentle, and even somewhat delicate man: Rudiger had a wide range of hobbies, he liked to be alone, he was also interested in music, art, swimming, visual media, romantic and spiritual themes; he often showed his emotions unabashedly and loved his family very much.
In the winter of 2011, Rudiger switched from the Dortmund echelon to the Stuttgart echelon and was officially promoted to the first team in Stuttgart in the summer of 2012, where he spent four years in which he showed his ability to adapt to the top flight and was selected for the German national team.
Rudiger's next stop is Serie A club Roma, which once had outstanding centre-backs such as Aldar, Samuel and Juan, and in the early days of Rome, Rudiger struggled a bit, he was once questioned as a "parallel cargo", but under the tutelage of Rudi Garcia, Rudiger quickly grew into The backbone of Roma's defense. However, Rudiger was favored by Chelsea after only one season as an official player for Roma, and in the summer window of 2017, the Blues signed Rudiger for 35 million euros.
Although Rudiger's position at the time could not be compared with the coveted Van Dijk or Bonucci of Chelsea fans, Chelsea decided to hand over the No. 2 shirt to Rudiger – the previous owner of this shirt was Serbian defender Ivanovic, who had a legendary career at Stamford Bridge from joining Chelsea in 2008 until leaving in 2017.
Rudiger's favorite players are the famous "alien" Ronaldo, as well as former AC Milan striker Giorgio Weah. This may have something to do with Rudiger's experience as a teenager as a striker, and his first shirt was a homemade shirt that mimicked the style of Georges-Weah.
At club level, although he later became a member of the Blues, Rudiger's favorite team growing up was Arsenal, and he once bluntly admitted in an interview that he had been fond of Arsenal since the days of Henry and Bergkamp.
From Stuttgart to Roma to Chelsea, Rudiger's progress is visible to the naked eye, even in the period when he has been selected for the German national team and has just joined Roma, Rudiger still gives the impression that he will suffer losses in physical confrontations and appear restrained on the pitch from time to time, but in Chelsea, Rudiger has ushered in a leap forward, he has grown into one of the most competitive defenders in the Premier League.
In Tuchel's three-back system, Rudiger, who usually plays as a left centre-back, has a wide range of activities, and he is not only able to beat most opponents in physical confrontations, but also frequently participates in attack. In the recent chelsea-Brentford league match, Rudiger blasted a shocking shot into the net from about 36 meters away, setting the Blues' farthest goal in the Premier League in 15 years, and in the second leg of the Champions League knockout match with Real Madrid, Rudiger's header helped Chelsea to a 3-3 aggregate draw with Real Madrid.
Compared with many center-backs who pursue "stability" or are not good at confrontation, Rudiger's physical fitness and rich experience are enough to provide him with a more aggressive defense for the team, he likes to kill the dangers faced by his own defense at the first time, and always uses applause and shouting on the pitch to motivate his teammates.
In the dressing room, Rudiger is also one of chelsea's core figures, and Rudiger's good popularity even played a role in Chelsea's "demotion" of the two German internationals Werner and Havertz, so Lüdiger was also nicknamed "Agent Rudiger". Flamboyant and fierce on the pitch, quiet and gentle off the pitch, this is the "double-sided" Rudiger, when such a rare and excellent centre-back appears in the market, it is not difficult to understand the interest from clubs such as Real Madrid, Juventus, Bayern and Paris Saint-Germain.
(In FIFA22's updated data today, Rudiger's ability has risen to a career high of 86, compared to 82 at the beginning of the season.)
According to the latest news from transfer experts Skila and Di Marzio, Rudiger is very close to joining Real Madrid, and Benzema Rent also followed Rudiger's account on INS. Obviously, in the case of the lack of height of real madrid's central defenders, Rudiger, who is 1.9 meters tall and has played well at the Bernabeu not long ago, will be the choice of Real Madrid.
(Santiago-Wang)