Loftus-Cheek to seek loan move away from Chelsea in January — report

Having made his way back to Chelsea from a season-long loan at Crystal Palace — after a brief diversion to the World Cup in Russia with England — Ruben Loftus-Cheek was hopeful of winning a place in Sarri’s first-team squad. But while he’s done that successfully, he’s been very limited in minutes received — though some of that has had to do with the foot injury that affected him for the last few weeks and that he’s still rehabbing during the international break.

Unsurprisingly, talk of a (loan?) move in the winter or a more permanent summer exit has already picked up. Here’s the Daily Mail with the latest, claiming that Loftus-Cheek is “plotting” a January move after his Chelsea “gamble” has “backfired”. There is of course no mention of the injury affecting his prospects, though they do bring up Sarri talking about how Ruben needs to improve tactically — like most young players.

In any case, potential suitors for RLC should be plenty. The Mail mentions a few.

Crystal Palace would certainly be keen to have him back again. Everton could also be an option. And even Arsenal are thrown into the mix, potentially seeing RLC as a replacement for Aaron Ramsey who may be leaving either in January or in the summer.

One cannot help but feel a bit sorry for Ruben. Had he stayed at the club last season, he could have found himself plenty of playing time considering all the injuries and how much we struggled when putting any midfielder not named “N’Golo Kanté” on the pitch. But now Chelsea are stacked in his position, and his quest for time appears to be hurtling towards an inevitable loan move, or worse.