Ruben Loftus-Cheek had a breakout season last term, playing so well for Crystal Palace that he made his way into Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the 2018 World Cup.
The 22-year-old impressed, particularly in his cameo roles, and looks to have a real future for his country.
The trouble comes when you start thinking about his club, though. Chelsea don’t seem particularly set on making him their midfield fulcrum, and yet they are not hugely excited about letting him leave either.
With just a short while before the transfer window crashes shut across continental Europe, here’s our suggestions for where the player should look to next.
#SquawkaScout: Ruben Loftus-Cheek
Gareth Southgate loves him
🤔 Will Chelsea love him?The makings of a complete midfielder. pic.twitter.com/4JRqQWcsrU
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) August 9, 2018
Dream – Chelsea
The thing Loftus-Cheek surely wants more than anything is to become a first-team regular at Chelsea, the club he’s been at since the age of eight.
Yet the Lewisham-born midfielder has only made 33 appearances for the club in all competition – he made almost as many (25) last season at Crystal Palace.
So the question then becomes one of if, and how, he’ll make it stick at Stamford Bridge. The reality is Jorginho, Fabregas, Barkley, Kante and Kovacic are ahead of him in the pecking order, while Bakayoko, who has been shipped off on a season-long loan to AC Milan, could be back ahead of him too if he impresses sufficiently and isn’t signed by the San Siro club.
The troubling thing for Loftus-Cheek is that Chelsea haven’t behaved in the summer transfer window, suggesting they don’t intend on entrusting Loftus-Cheek with any real responsibility, given they signed – or loaned – two players in his position.
And yet they want him to stay and have essentially challenged him to work his way into the first-team fold under Maurizio Sarri. If he can do that, and ultimately feature in around the same number of games as he did last season at Palace, then that would be a real success for the player, and English football generally.
Realistic – Crystal Palace in January
Chelsea intend on keeping Loftus Cheek, at least until January. If he’s really unable to break into the team in any meaningful way – say he makes less than 10 appearances in all competitions – then he might be allowed to leave on loan again.
Things might well change, he might still go abroad this summer, but that’s the most likely path for Loftus-Cheek, if he is to leave Chelsea this month.
Loftus-Cheek scored twice and assisted thrice in his 24 appearances for Palace last summer, and Hodgson was reportedly intent on re-signing the Londoner this summer, before being blocked off by Chelsea.
Palace may well come in for him again in January, and it would be clear that the England midfielder would be a near enough certified starter should he end up at Selhurst Park.
This move would be good for England too, as Loftus-Cheek is at the age now where he needs to be playing week in week out.
Wildcard – Spurs in January
We’ve gone for Spurs here as, although Transfer Markt list his transfer value at £16.2m, the true figure is probably around double that.
The most Crystal Palace – who are the most logical club to try and capture the player after his loan stint last season – have spent on a player is £28m on Christian Benteke, who is a striker. Would they countenance spending upwards of £35m on a young centre-mid? I’m not so sure. A bidding war could push it into the 40s.
Spurs famously didn’t sign a single player in the summer, but the areas that could do with further depth is the centre of midfield and at the top of the pitch.
So it’s reasonable to see Spurs, who will need to put contingency plans in place for the replacement of Mousa Dembele whose contract is running down, as the sort of club that would go in for the 22-year-old in the winter window, especially if Pochettino eyes a January addition to give a new signing six-months under his tutelage for an (imagined) Dembele-less 2019-20 season.
The Chelsea player shares many of the traits of Dembele, which is a very particular skill-set, in that he shields the ball well, is extremely strong and is adept at running with the ball in a direct fashion while evading possession loss. He’s also got quick feet for such a robust-looking lad, and tackles well.
Loftus-Cheek to Spurs is all the more likely if Aston Villa continue to deny the north Londoners the chance to sign Jack Grealish this season.
Squawka suggests – Valencia
Los Che are perhaps the most interesting and enticing prospect in Spain’s top tier outside of the usual big fish, and they are reported to be interested in Loftus-Cheek.
In both the 2015-16 and 2016-17 La Liga seasons, Valencia finished 12th in the league, their worst run of results in La Liga since they re-entered the top flight in 1987.
Under Marcelino, Valencia have regained their seat at the top table of European football after having finished fourth last season. Their couple of years in the relative wilderness seems to be over.
Most recently they took points of highly-rated Atletico Madrid in La Liga, and it’s already clear this early in the season that they have the tools to carry a real threat in the Champions League while maintaining a top-four position.
At Valencia, Loftus-Cheek could provide competition to current centre-midfield players Geoffrey Kondogbia and Daniel Parejo, and would surely be assured of game time.
The post Dream, realistic, wildcard, Squawka suggests: Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s next step in senior football appeared first on Squawka News.
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