Tottenham Hotspur spent the majority of the summer chasing a centre-back.
The club did enjoy an excellent transfer window, bringing in the likes of Gareth Bale, Sergio Reguilon, and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, but it appeared that a central defender would evade them.
There was interest in signing Milan Skriniar from Inter Milan, per sources, but the deal never materialised, with the window closing without a centre-back arriving.
However, Spurs utilised the domestic window to sign Joe Rodon from Swansea City, plugging a gap in the squad and bringing in a highly talented international defender in the process.
Rodon is just 23 and has already won seven caps for Wales, where he plays alongside both Ben Davies and Gareth Bale.
However, it could have been a remarkably different story.
A number of reports throughout the final days of the summer suggested that Spurs could try to bring in Antonio Rudiger on loan from Chelsea.
It always seemed a deal fraught with complications because of the rivalry between the clubs and it has now emerged exactly why Spurs pulled the plug on a deal.
Football Insider reports that Chelsea demanded over £4m as a loan fee, while they also wanted Spurs to take on all of his £150,000-per-week wages, taking the total cost of any deal to over £10m.
Rudiger has yet to play for the Blues in the Premier League this season and Spurs are unlikely to rekindle their interest in the German.
GIVEMESPORT’S Harry Sherlock says…
The deal for Rudiger didn’t make sense on any level.
Why would Chelsea look to strengthen a rival? Why would Spurs go shopping for a back-up that can’t get into that rival’s team?
Instead, they have brought in Rodon, a player who has a much higher ceiling, and who can only grow and improve under Jose Mourinho’s management.
Spurs have done the right thing by bringing in the Welshman, and in avoiding Rudiger.
Any idea of signing the latter should be put firmly to bed from now on.