Real Madrid defender Antonio Rudiger is excited by the idea of playing under new manager Jose Mourinho, he revealed in a recent interview.
The German is currently away at World Cup duty - and played in Germany's 7-1 win over Curacao on Sunday. It was a dominant performance from Germany, and Rudiger came off the bench to see out the victory.
After the game, Rudiger went into the mixed zone, where he was asked about a number of things, ranging from his minutes during the game to Real Madrid.
Real Madrid granted Antonio Rudiger's wish that he didn't get at Chelsea
He was also asked about the return of Jose Mourinho, and his answer showed something he missed when he was playing at Chelsea.
He said: “I am excited to work with José Mourinho. A manager like him is a dream.”
Rudiger joined Chelsea the season after Mourinho left West London, which is why their paths had not collided until now.
His admiration for Mourinho is not a secret to anyone at football, and neither is the impact that the Portuguese manager had at Chelsea.
Mourinho may not have won a Champions League with the West London outfit, but it is clear that he is the best manager to have ever coached the Blues. Working with him at Chelsea would have been a dream for any player, especially a defender considering the brilliant records he made and broke while in London.
Things did not quite work out in terms of timing for Rudiger and Mourinho, but better late than never. Mourinho now has a chance to work with Rudiger and the German is able to finally realise his dream of playing under the manager.
It is also worth noting that Mourinho pushed for Rudiger's contract to be extended by a year - everything was a bit undecided at one point, until Mourinho personally made it happen, despite also wanting new defenders.
Things like this show that this bond is going to be important for Real Madrid next season. Besides, Rudiger seems like the perfect Mourinho defender - or at least, he would be one of them - with his aggressive defending style and brilliant physical attributes.
Obviously, Rudiger is not quite where he used to be in his peak, but Mourinho would want to maximise the output that he can get out of the German, and it remains to be seen how well the duo works next season.
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