Thomas Tuchel says Antonio Rudiger’s goal celebration shows how ‘happy’ the defender is, despite plenty of speculation over his Chelsea future.
Rudiger opened the scoring in the 4-1 defeat against Brentford, blasting in a long range effort in the 48th minute before the Bees fought back with a barrage of goals.
Rudiger embraced TuchelAFP But doubts still remain over his futureGetty
The Germany international ran straight over to his manager after his goal, hugging Tuchel before the pair were mobbed by the rest of the squad.
Rudiger has been the subject of intense transfer speculation with his contract at Stamford Bridge expiring this summer, attracting reported interest from the likes of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
The situation has been further complicated by the Blues’ ownership situation, with the departing Roman Abramovich seeing his assets frozen by the UK government, meaning the club are currently unable to buy or sell players.
However, Rudiger’s embrace with Tuchel suggested that he’s still more than happy with the club where he’s become a Champions League winner and a Germany regular.
Tuchel was asked about the celebration, and told talkSPORT: “If you want to read something into it, you can read something into it.
“I was surprised he came to me to celebrate. He was maybe surprised that the ball went in, because he tried so many times.
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“But yeah, it was a nice moment. You could see how happy he is, you could see how everybody was happy with him and what it meant to him and what it meant to us.”
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