“Always trying to manhandle you and stuff” - Dom Solanke says defender Chelsea let go was difficult to face like Van Dijk
Tottenham Hotspur forward Dominik Solanke has claimed that former Chelsea centre-half Antonio Rudiger was difficult to face on the pitch like Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk. Rudiger eventually left the Blues in the summer of 2022 to join Real Madrid on a free transfer.
The German international played for Chelsea between 2017 and 2022, recording 203 appearances for the club. The defender boasts 55 clean sheets in 133 appearances in the Premier League. Rudiger has continued his impressive form for Real Madrid since leaving in 2022, having won a Champions League and a LaLiga title with them in his brief stint so far.
In an interview via TBR Football, Solanke was asked to rate and rank Premier League defenders Virgil van Dijk, William Saliba, and Ruben Dias. The Spurs picked Van Dijk as his top pick, after which he was asked whether there were any other underrated defenders he faced in his career. Solanke did not hesitate to name Antonio Rudiger, whom he faced during his stint at Chelsea.
"I think a player like Rudiger when he was here. Players like that are quite tough, aggressive, always trying to manhandle you and stuff. These three have similar physiques, but I think Rudiger is quite different and difficult as well," Solanke said.
Dominik Solanke has not played against Antonio Rudiger for a long time, having faced him for only 31 minutes across two fixtures. Both games were during the German's stint at Chelsea, where he won and lost once again. Solanke represented Liverpool in the win, while he was at Bournemouth when he lost against Rudiger.
Former Chelsea star John Obi Mikel picks two positions the Blues need to reinforce to win the Premier League
In an interview on talkSPORT (h/t TBR Football), former Blues star John Obi Mikel claimed that they need to bring in a good goalkeeper and a striker to win the Premier League.
The former Nigeria international said:
"Under Maresca, I hope to believe so (Chelsea can win the league). There is an identity now with the way we want to play. However, if you want to in the Premier League you need a top, top goalkeeper, and I don’t think we have that. We need to get a top goalkeeper and we need another top striker to help Nicolas Jackson, now he’s injured we don’t have any other striker."
Chelsea have been struggling to reinforce the goalkeeper position since losing Thibaut Courtois to Real Madrid in 2018. Their current starting shot-stopper Robert Sanchez has been far from consistent this season. Further, the west London side also lack a good backup to Nicolas Jackson in the striker position.
