Antonio Rudiger in Frank Lampard confession as Chelsea legend made defender DESPERATE to leave club

Former Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger has confessed that he was eager to leave the club during Frank Lampard's tenure as manager.

Rudiger, who moved to Real Madrid in 2022 after a five-year stint at Stamford Bridge, won numerous titles with Chelsea, including the Champions League and FA Cup. Despite being one of the standout players for most of his time in west London, he then found himself out of favour during Lampard's first spell as Chelsea boss with the ex-midfielder often preferring a defensive partnership of Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen.

Reflecting on this period, Rudiger admitted he wanted to end his time at Chelsea. Speaking to Goal, he said: "To be honest, I still can't say exactly what happened back then. That's part of football. 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."

Rudiger was asked if he knew of any Chelsea players who didn't try their hardest for Lampard. He said strongly: "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."

Rudiger also wanted to leave Chelsea because he hoped to play for Thomas Tuchel at Paris Saint-Germain. But then Tuchel lost his job and became Chelsea's new manager instead.

"I really wanted to leave. I wanted to leave. I wanted to join Thomas Tuchel at Paris Saint-Germain, that was my wish," Rudiger said.

Rudiger, who is 30 years old, said he liked Tuchel's honest way of talking better than how Lampard managed the team. He felt Tuchel trusted him more,