Real Madrid were not the most active club this summer but one player that they did bring in was Antonio Rudiger. Carlo Ancelotti’s side already had a great defence, but the opportunity to sign a player of the German’s quality on a free transfer, after his contract with Chelsea had run out, was too good to turn down.
Rudiger had been one of the best defenders in the world under the management of Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea. And in a smart piece of business similar to David Alaba last summer, Real Madrid managed to bring him in for nothing.
Rudiger has made a solid start at Real Madrid as well and is starting to make his mark in Spain already, even though it was a bit of a surprise when Ancelotti decided to leave him on the bench in favour of Eder Militao against Atletico Madrid, despite the fact that the Brazilian had missed the last few games due to injury.
Rudiger seems to have settled in well with his new teammates though. And when asked who had surprised him in a positive way since joining Real Madrid, the German defender picked up one of his national teammates in Toni Kroos. As reported by Sport1, he said:
"“Toni Kroos. We always got along well and respectfully with the national team, but we always exchanged two sentences with each other. Something like “Hey, how are you?” and “Bye”. Maybe because we just didn’t have enough time. At Real I met another Toni Kroos. He speaks very good Spanish, is completely open and also very helpful. He has supported me with the language since day one and has offered to help me with other things several times out of nowhere. He’s a very relaxed guy.”"
Rudiger has named Real Madrid teammate who has surprised him
Kroos is one of the leaders at Real Madrid, who has been at the club a long time, seen it all and done it all here.
Thus, it is only natural for him to help one of his German teammates out after his big move to the Santiago Bernabeu, to play in a country where he has never done before.
Hopefully, Rudiger will continue to grow from strength to strength at Real Madrid and help the club to a lot more success this season and in the years ahead.