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Football London
Football London
Sport
Jake Stokes

Antonio Rudiger admits to 'winding up' Chelsea supporters on purpose

Antonio Rudiger has admitted to deliberately winding up supporters in matches during his time at Chelsea. The 29-year-old joined Real Madrid in the summer as a free agent after his deal with Blues expired.

football.london understand that Rudiger passed on a new deal at Chelsea which would have made him the highest-paid defender in the club's history. The Germany international was reportedly demanding a large signing-on fee, along with agent fees too, effectively putting a new contract out of reach for the west Londoners.

As a result, he penned a four-year deal at the Santiago Bernabeu, drawing the curtains on a successful five-year spell in the Premier League. And, after a few months at his new club, Rudiger has spoken to German outlet Sport1 on his time at Chelsea.

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The defender admitted that winding up the crowd was a deliberate ploy to lift fans at Stamford Bridge from their seats. Rudiger was a popular figure in west London and was known for treading the thin line between being an impulsive hot-headed lunatic and tactful genius.

"I'll be honest, I wound people up because it was just too quiet in the stadium for me during this game," Rudiger said. "I wanted to wake people up with it.

"I like to analyse my opponents and think to myself, 'Okay, let's see how they react if I provoke them a bit'," he added, speaking of the joy he gets from antagonising the opposition. "But it's not like I pick someone before every game. That happens spontaneously."

Following Chelsea's win over Zenit in the Champions League group stage last season, Romelu Lukaku said that Rudiger's craziness spurred the Blues on to victory. When asked about a slalomed run from his teammate, the striker said: "I expected the ball at the end though, but you know it was good for the stadium got the crowd going, got us going and sometimes you need moments like this."

In the BT Sport studio, Rio Ferdinand agreed, highlighting how Rudiger's chaotic tendencies lifted Chelsea's spirits. The former Manchester United defender said: "Little moments like that are key, Rudiger stepping out, a tackle it gets the fans back in the game and they’re the 12th man.

"Especially Stamford Bridge, when the fans have something to cling on to is a hard place for the opposition to play. Sometimes you have to do something to get a reaction from the fans."

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