Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger has finally revealed his role in the deal that saw his German teammate Timo Werner chose Chelsea football club over other suitors. The defender said he had to speak to the 24-year-old forward consistently in order to be convinced that Stamford Bridge is the best destination for him.
When Timo Werner was still one of the hottest commodity in the transfer market, top European clubs like Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Juventus wanted him as badly as Chelsea wanted his signature. During that period, reports began to speculate that Antonio Rudiger and a former German international and Chelsea midfielder, Micheal Ballack, helped Chelsea to convince the high flying forward to join Chelsea.
That has turned out not to be a speculation, at least on the part of Rudiger, as he has admitted that he and Werner had known each other for so long having played together for Bundesliga club Stuttgart and the German national team.
Rudiger told Chelsea TV that he had to do what he had to do to ensure that Werner joined him at the London club, noting that the German international plays like Leicester forward Jamie Vardy. The defender said Werner and Vardy are alike in terms of putting pressure on defenders, pace and utilizing their chances in front of goal.
“I did speak to him before because we have known each other for a long time,’ Rudiger said. “We spoke a lot during the lockdown and he told me he was interested in coming to England. Of course, then I did my bit, what I had to do.”
“He’s a really big threat to defenders. RB Leipzig is a more counter-attacking team but in terms of attacking the defensive line, he’s similar to Vardy. He has a lot of pace and if the defender makes a mistake and loses the ball, then he goes!”
On Timo Werner’s personality off the pitch, the German international described RB Leipzig’s star as a quiet and humble person who is always ready to do better.
“I hope he adapts very quickly when he comes because as we all know this competition is different than others”, he added.
Timo Werner was initially valued at £100 million but due to the coronavirus pandemic that has greatly affected the revenues of clubs across the world coupled with Werner’s desire to play in the Premier League, the value was brought down to his original buy out clause which is £45 million. Chelsea was fast enough to be the first club to trigger the buy out clause and subsequently agreed terms with the Bundesliga’s second-highest goalscorer of this season.
Though the deal is done and dusted, Werner will not join up with the Premier League club until the Bundesliga season is fully over. He is expected to unite with Frank Lampard’s side in July.
