Chelsea target Antonio Rudiger admits he “likes the Premier League, but my future is at Roma and if they don’t want to sell me, I’ll stay here.”
The German international has fully recovered from a torn ACL that forced him to miss Euro 2016.
“It’s not true that I was about to sign for Chelsea before I got injured,” the centre-back told Il Tempo newspaper.
Chelsea target Antonio Rudiger admits he “likes the Premier League, but my future is at Roma and if they don’t want to sell me, I’ll stay here.”
The German international has fully recovered from a torn ACL that forced him to miss Euro 2016.
“It’s not true that I was about to sign for Chelsea before I got injured,” the centre-back told Il Tempo newspaper.
“My future is here. I am concentrated only on Roma, especially as I am coming off a serious injury and need to stay focused. I worked well during that period and feel at home here.
“If Roma don’t want to sell me, then I’ll stay here. You never know in football and my dream is to play in England one day. Right now I am happy at Roma, as they signed me when I was injured and believed in me, so I have great respect for this club.”
If Rudiger were to go to England, which club would be prefer to play for?
“Leeds United!” he laughed. “I really like the Premier League, as it is a very physical type of football and that suits my characteristics, but at the moment – honestly – I am concentrated on Roma and the derby.
“I do feel much happier in Italy than in Germany. In my country there are so many rules, whereas in Italy people do more or less what they want.
“At times it can be inconvenient, but all told I prefer the Italian mentality. In Germany if they tell you it’ll take two days to get building work done at your house, it takes two days. Here that’s not the case and at the start I thought ‘Mamma mia…’
“But everyone is so nice and fun that in the end you accept it with a smile, even if they turn up late.”