Ruben Loftus-Cheek shone in the Premier League with Crystal Palace last season but now he’s making a name for himself at Chelsea.
Every stellar performance Ruben Loftus-Cheek produces for Chelsea will be like a dagger through the heart of Crystal Palace.
The 22-year-old is in the form of his life right now, scoring six goals in his last eight games after belatedly forcing his way into Maurizio Sarri’s first-team plans.
Meanwhile, a Crystal Palace side who Lofuts-Cheek played for on loan last season appear to be dropping like a stone, sleepwalking into a relegation battle after a hugely disappointing start to the campaign under Roy Hodgson.
The Mirror reported that Palace had understandably harboured hopes of bringing Loftus-Cheek back to Selhurst Park in January. But, as Dennis Wise points out, why would he want to leave Stamford Bridge now when he is finally getting the game time he deserves?
“(Sarri) has played him a number of times. He’s got competition for places but why would Loftus-Cheek want to go on loan?” former Chelsea and England midfielder Wise told The Standard.
“I’ll pick Crystal Palace just because he went there on loan.
“Why would you want to go there on loan, to a team where you’ll play a lot of games but you’ll be in a battle down the bottom when you can play in a team full of top international players, fighting to win trophies and trying to get in the Champions League?”
Wise has a point. The last few weeks appear to have been a turning point for Loftus-Cheek with his clinical hat-trick in the Europa League thrashing of BATE Borisov in late October seemingly breathing life into a Chelsea career that promises so much.
In quotes reported by The Independent, Sarri claimed that there is ‘no chance’ Loftus-Cheek will be allowed to leave on loan. So Crystal Palace should turn their attention elsewhere.
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