Abdul Baba Rahman: My style of play was too offensive for Antonio Conte’s Chelsea

Loan move: Abdul Baba Rahman will spend the season at Schalke
Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images
Vaishali Bhardwaj3 August 2016

Abdul Baba Rahman has revealed why Chelsea sent him on loan to Schalke this week, saying his style of play would have been too offensive for new coach Antonio Conte.

The left-back completed a season-long loan move to German side Schalke on Tuesday after enduring a frustrating first season at Chelsea, which saw Baba Rahman play second fiddle to first-choice defender in his position Cesar Azpilicueta.

His fortunes following the arrival of Conte at Chelsea did not change, with the Italian coach preferring to utilise 19-year-old academy graduate Ola Aina in one of the full-back places during pre-season.

And Baba Rahman has now revealed why he accepted a loan move to the Bundesliga, where he used to play for Augsburg, saying his offensive style of play would not have suited Conte's attempts to make Chelsea a defensively solid team.

"Chelsea manager Antonio Conte told me that he wants his team to be very defensive, but I am a rather offensive full-back," Rahman told Ruhr Nachrichten.

"So I would have had very little playing time. Conte advised me to leave on loan. We will see what happens after this season.

"I already know Markus Weinzierl from my time at Augsburg and we worked together very well there. He always gave me a lot of confidence. That is one of the reasons why I think Schalke were the best option for me."

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When then asked about the differences between the English top-flight and the German, Baba Rahman replied: "A lot of players in England are very powerful, whereas in Germany you see some better football.

"A lot of Premier League teams are still very much playing kick-and-rush football."

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