Trevoh Chalobah has revealed that Antonio Rudiger was asked to “look after” him at Chelsea as he detailed the influence the defender has had on his career. Chalobah was born in Sierra Leone, and Rudiger was eligible to play for the African country due to his mother being from there, and that has helped the pair become close at Chelsea.
Trevor Chalobah said: “I remember when he first came and my brother was here. My brother told him to look after me. He is obviously from the same country as well and he always used to give me advice, even when I was out on loan. He told me to always work hard and said ‘I know you are good enough, you will get your chance’. He always believed in me and gave me that confidence when I doubted myself, so I say thanks to him as he has been a massive part of it too.”
Rudiger has clearly been a huge influence on Chalobah in his Chelsea days, but it is another one of his teammates that had an impact on the young Blues star when he was growing up – Thiago Silva. The 37-year-old defender, who joined Chelsea in the summer of 2020 on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain, has won an incredible 30 major honours for club and country throughout his glistening 19-year career and Chalobah has admitted that Silva was one of his idols growing up.
Trevor Chalobah said: “I look up to Thiago a lot. I used to watch a lot of clips of him when I was younger, how calm, how composed he is, aspects of his game I can learn in training. Obviously there is a language barrier as he doesn’t speak much English but watching him in training is enough for me to learn. It’s an honour sharing a pitch with a world-class player like him.”
Chalobah last featured for Chelsea in their most recent Premier League match against Brentford and will be hoping to be back in Tuchel’s team for Saturday’s meeting with Norwich City after being rested in midweek for the Champions League victory over Malmo.
