Ruben Loftus-Cheek was left out of Chelsea’s matchday squad for their League Cup encounter on Tuesday night amid rumours that Aston Villa are keen to sign him.
The Express & Star recently claimed that Aston Villa are most likely to sign Loftus-Cheek this summer rather than his teammate, Ross Barkley, who they are also keen on.
Interestingly enough, Barkley was named in Frank Lampard’s 18 man squad that was beaten by Spurs on penalties, which perhaps indicates that the former Everton man is ahead of the Chelsea academy product in the midfield pecking order.
Aston Villa have had a pretty productive and healthy transfer window, but Dean Smith could do with some added additions.
Perhaps another number nine, winger or number 8 could be useful to Smith, who has guided Villa to two wins from their opening two matches of the Premier League season.
If Villa were to sign Loftus-Cheek then the 24-year-old would provide much-needed quality and depth in the middle of the park.
Loftus-Cheek is as dangerous with the ball than he is without it because he likes making those attacking off-the-ball runs, which would complement Smith’s system.
At this moment in time, John McGinn, Conor Hourihane and Douglas Luiz are Villa’s midfield three, with Jack Grealish playing out wide on the left.
After that, the likes of Marvelous Nakamba, youngster Jacob Ramsey and Henri Lansbury are Smith’s options, so it could be argued that Loftus-Cheek would jump ahead of all those three if he were to join.
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