Rudy happy at Hoffenheim return

Sebastian Rudy has declared himself “really happy” on loan at Hoffenheim after struggling at Schalke last season. The midfielder rejoined former club Hoffenheim on a season-long loan in the summer and appears to be back to his best, featuring in every minute for them so far in the Bundesliga this term.
The 29-year-old spent seven years with Die Kraichgauer between 2010-17 before moving on to Bayern Munich. His time with the Bavarian giants did not work out, though, and he quickly joined Schalke in summer 2018.
However, he failed to make the desired impact in Gelsenkirchen and was in and out of the side last term. His temporary switch back to the Rhein-Neckar-Arena looks to have revitalised him and Rudy is now happy and settled again.
He told the Bundesliga website: “I’m really happy! I have very strong support from the coach and the whole club in general. I feel like a player needs this backing after a very difficult season. It helped me a lot and I try to give back as much as I can on the pitch.”
Hoffenheim are ninth in the Bundesliga ahead of Friday’s trip to Cologne, but are only two points off second in a congested top half and have won their past five games in all competitions, including a 2-1 win at Bayern last month.
Rudy believes they could have more points on the board than they actually have but they are clearly moving in the right direction.
He added: “We’ve been unlucky in one or two situations which is why we’ve lost a couple of games. However, as we saw against Bayern, we, as a team, are capable of working well together. It was a very important win for us, mentally.”