Antonio Rudiger has highlighted two Chelsea players for special recognition, noting that Enzo Maresca has “a tremendous amount of talent” available to him at the club.
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Maresca has quickly adapted to his role at Chelsea, having taken over from Mauricio Pochettino, and there is growing optimism among Stamford Bridge fans after years of instability and doubt…Continue Reading
Following a summer of significant changes, with around £220 million spent, Chelsea have only suffered one Premier League defeat and are currently fourth in the table ahead of their match against Nottingham Forest this weekend.
The west London club recently passed a challenging test against Brighton, securing a 4-2 victory, with Palmer making history by becoming the first Premier League player to score four goals in the first half of a match.
Maresca has also benefited from Jackson’s return to form, as the player has rebounded from an inconsistent debut season to score four goals in his first six league matches this season.
‘I always watch the games when I can, if I don’t play myself. But I always watch their games. There is a hell of a lot of talent, like really a hell of a lot of talent,’ ex-Chelsea defender Rudiger, now with Real Madrid, told The Inside Scoop.
‘I don’t know how much they spent on players already but this is their own strategy and I cannot say anything because the players they have… wow, some teams wish they could spend that amount of money and have these kinds of players.’
Rudiger is especially pleased to see Jackson firing on all cylinders on the back of a difficult debut campaign in England.
‘I’m very happy especially for Nicolas Jackson, that he is getting now his goals because I think overall the player is fantastic,’ Rudiger added.
‘It’s just he was a bit unlucky with his finishing but I’m sure he will improve because his overall game, he is very, very good.’
He added: ‘Cole Palmer, he surprised me a lot, he surprised me a lot.
‘He really surprised me because you can say, “Oh, he was swimming with those great players”… okay, but then you have to go to another club and show it and he did it.
‘He did it and hats off to him because he’s a really, really good player.’
Rudiger joined Real Madrid on a free transfer upon the expiration of his Chelsea contract in 2022 and it’s clear the defender has no regrets about swapping west London for the Bernabeu.
‘There was a gap at the time. There was nothing, there was literally nothing, there was not even talks,’ he explained.
‘I was still playing and I was still playing at my best week-in, week-out. You know sometimes you can be thinking, “Maybe I should not get injured”, or something like this but I didn’t have this in my mind because at that time I felt great at Chelsea.
‘But on the other hand I also knew that Champions League I won can be my ticket to the biggest club in the world.
‘Real Madrid doesn’t knock often on your door in your career and I felt like I was ready for that step.’
