The Ruben Loftus-Cheek loan rumors are picking up steam as we approach January, but unlike most transfer rumors, these ones actually makes plenty of sense. The 20-year-old has only made three appearances all season and has fallen to just about last in the midfield pecking order. He needs minutes and those are hard to come by at the moment with the Blues.
Gianfranco Zola’s new team, Birmingham City were brought up as an option a couple days ago, but fellow Championship outfit Newcastle United may be a more likely destination. They are currently managed by Rafael Benítez who, as we might recall, was the one to actually give Loftus-Cheek his first big break during the 2012-13 post-season tour of America. Loftus-Cheek started both games against Manchester City in that brief series of games, impressing against the likes of Yaya Touré.
Surely then Benítez is familiar with what RLC could (theoretically) bring to the table, so maybe he should have a word with the editors the Northern Echo, who insist on calling Ruben a “winger” (and posit him as a potential replacement for fellow Chelsea loanee Christian Atsu, who’s definitely a winger but also a winger who will be missing in action for a month thanks to the Africa Cup of Nations in January).
Chelsea seek assurances before considering Newcastle loan move for - Northern Echo https://t.co/ZUFUqnFUti
— Newcastle United (@toonnews) December 23, 2016
RLC may be many things, but he’s decidedly not a winger. Midfielder (in a two- or three-man configuration), number-ten, second striker — all possible however, and if Newcastle need help in that department (especially the former two options), then this move could be beneficial for all involved.