"Barca came knocking, but I couldn't go"

Because his contract was up in June and he became a free agent, Real Madrid targeted Antonio Rudiger to get him in on a free in the summer. Therefore the German left Chelsea for nothing to go to Madrid.

His contract situation made a lot of clubs interested in him. For example, Bayern Munich, PSG or Barcelona. In fact, the German explained how he decided on Madrid and what he thought when he found out the Barcelona were interested.

"They came knocking. But for me I couldn't do it. To be honest, my life's main dream was to play in the Premier League. Quite simply, I thought that playing at Real Madrid would never happen. It never came in to my head", he said in an interview with 'AS'.

He went on to recount Madrid's call: "I was really happy at Chelsea. And at the end of the day when you find out that Madrid want you, it's so big, it's amazing. I was in London with my brother. It was him who told me about it. I couldn't believe it! I can't even explain now how I felt. I still get goosebumps".

"Real Madrid wasn't even a dream for me because it seemed unattainable... If you looked at some of the names that have played there: Zidane, Ronaldo, Crisitano... Having the possibility to play with Modric, Kroos or Benzema... It was hard to say no to that", the defender finished by saying.