Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger has confirmed he turned down two different offers to leave the Blues on loan before the transfer window shut earlier this month.

The German international has not featured for the first team this season but the centre-back says there were a number of different factors that led to him staying at Stamford Bridge:

“Naturally, I looked at a couple of options in the two weeks before the end of the transfer window. There was a possibility of a loan deal, in order for me to get more game time. Due to many different reasons and the shortage of time, nothing materialised in the end.”

Tottenham and West Ham were believed to be the two teams interested in signing Rudiger but, for whatever the reason, the 27-year-old opted against moving on deadline day.

The player says he is now determined to work his way back into manager Frank Lampard’s first-team plans but that may prove difficult, considering he is now effectively fifth choice.

Currently, Thiago Silva and Kurt Zouma are the favoured centre-back pairing, with Andreas Christensen and Fikayo Tomori being seen as the two backups. Injuries or suspension could, though, help Rudiger move up the pecking order again.