England’s World Cup semi-finalist Ruben Loftus-Cheek is reportedly keen on staying at Stamford Bridge and fight for his place
According to a report in the Daily Mail, England star Loftus-Cheek is determined to stay on at Stamford Bridge and fight for his place. With Chelsea announcing the capture of Mateo Kovacic from Real Madrid, it seems the fight for a place got even tougher for the former Crystal Palace attacker.
A fantastic 2017/18 season for the Eagles was followed up by a well-deserved call up to the England squad for Loftus-Cheek. He played in 4 matches during the World Cup and seemed to impress one and all with his touches and passing range. Having reached the semi-finals as late as mid-July, he decided to cut-short his holidays to report to training, hoping to impress new boss Maurizio Sarri.
The boss himself sat on the fence when asked about the Lewisham-born attacker, saying he needed some more time to assess the latter’s performances. If he does not, however, impress his boss in the meanwhile, he will have no shortage of suitors. Former team Crystal Palace are once again said to be leading the race to sign him on loan if the opportunity arises.
Loftus-Cheek has been at Chelsea ever since he was 8 years old and has been a part of the senior team since 2014/15. Subsequent bosses Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte both found him surplus to requirements and was sent out on loan or banished to the reserves. However, his loan spell to Selhurst Park made the difference during Conte’s second season in charge at the Blues. He impressed onlookers with his pace, style of play and his link-up with strikers.
And now, with 4 World Cup appearances under his belt, it seems everyone wants a piece of him. However, with the aforementioned signing of Kovacic, his place as a starter seems to be under a cloud. The Croat plays as a deep-lying midfielder and could pip the English star to the starting berth.
Chelsea fans, however, will be delighted to know that Loftus-Cheek is keen on staying and fighting for his place. Apart from John Terry in the recent past, there hasn’t been a player that the Blues’ faithful can call “one of their own”, having risen through the youth ranks and making a name for themselves in the Royal Blue shirt.
His current teammate and Belgian World Cup star Eden Hazard had high praise for his style of play and predicted a bright future. He said, “Ruben is a fantastic player. He is still young, of course, but I think if we can have him in the team this season it’s a plus for everyone. I know his quality. He is young, he is powerful. The future will be top for him.”
It remains to be seen what will happen in the next few hours of Deadline Day. However, with rumours of him moving away losing steam, it looks like the local boy is primed to stay with his club for the time-being at least.
