Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel after Chelsea’s 1-0 home win against West Ham has confirmed that Antonio Rudiger has asked to leave the club after his demands were not met.
“Toni, the media is on it – the situation is that he wants to leave the club,” confirmed Tuchel. “He informed me of this is in a private talk. We gave everything – me and the club – but we could not fight anymore because of the actions.
“Without the sanctions, we would at least be able to carry on fighting, but our hands are tied. We don’t take it personally. It is his decision… he is a key figure and will stay that way until the end of the season. But it is disappointing.
“We will miss him a lot. He gives courage in the dressing room. The kind everyone is afraid of, but the kind to play 50-55 games at an outstanding level. He is a top defender in the last one and a half years for me. We then need to find another solution.”
On Chelsea’s performance against the Hammers, Tuchel added: “It seemed a bit stuck. But we knew it. It can feel like this against West Ham who defend with a lot of bodies and discipline. We have to wait for the moments.
“We had some accelerations with Mason from midfield but nobody was joining. It felt stuck. We controlled it but could not find spaces. It was also not the moment to take every risk after our recent results. We wanted to control their counter attacks.”
