Rüdiger: "It’s an honour to play for Ancelotti, I hope he can help me win another Champions League”

Antonio Rüdiger was interviewed by the club’s official press officers after he was unveiled as a new Real Madrid player. The German defender expressed his delight at the move: “First of all, I’m very grateful to be here. It's like I'm dreaming, but this is real and I feel immense pleasure to be here. I've never seen anything like this before, Real Madrid City is simply spectacular, it thrills me and I look forward to the day when I start training there”.

“I think everyone knows and this can be seen here. I’ve always said that the Champions League is Real Madrid’s competition, because that’s where you see the club’s real side”.
 
Motivation
“Ancelotti, the manager, has played a big part in this. After I spoke to him I was convinced I wanted to join Real Madrid. But in general, everything this club represents is evident”.
 
How would you define yourself?
“I'm a player with a strong character, but I think it' s best to leave the rest to others and not to talk too much about yourself. I think it's hard to improve your speed, but I'm lucky because it's something I have thanks to my genetics and I'm really pleased about that. On the pitch, I'm focused exclusively on work, but off the pitch I'm funny and I like to laugh and make people have a good time. But most of all I can laugh at myself. Since Toni Kroos is already in the team, and I don't like to be called Antonio, I’d like people to call me Rudi”.

"Ultimately, we are talking about players who have just won the Champions League, while Nacho, for instance, has won it five times. It' s a very good combination of experience and, say, Militão who is a bit younger but also internationally recognised and with a lot of games under his belt. I'm looking forward to starting”.

Chat with teammates
“I haven’t spoken to Kroos too much about Real Madrid, I’ve spoken to Mateo Kovacić and he’s told me a lot of things, because he talked’s a lot about Modrić. He told me: 'You go there and enjoy it, it’s a great move for you'. I’ve never heard a bad word about Real Madrid”.
 
The manager
“It’s an honour to play for Carlo Ancelotti. I’m convinced I can still learn a lot from him, and I hope he can help me win another Champions League here”.
 
Call with Ronaldo
“Ronaldo played in the 2002 final against Germany sporting a very distinctive haircut. When we were kids playing football in the street, Ronaldo was our idol. When I signed, I spoke to him on a video call. I was excited and very nervous at the same time. See you soon. Hala Madrid!”.