According to the Express, Southampton are now keen to sign Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who is also of interest to Aston Villa.
The Chelsea maestro – who is currently on loan at Fulham – is valued at £20 million by the Blues.
The Express believe that Southampton are plotting a bid to take him on loan, with a view to a permanent switch.
Elsewhere, it was TEAMtalk who said Aston Villa were keen, while Crystal Palace are also monitoring his situation.
Hasenhuttl tried to sign the 10-cap England international before he joined Fulham in 2020, and is said to be a huge fan of Loftus Cheek.
The Express claim that the 25-year-old earns £120,000-a-week at Stamford Bridge, which would be quite a significant salary for Southampton to pay.
When he’s on his game, Loftus-Cheek is definitely worth that kind of cash.
However, the attacking midfielder often struggles with injuries, and also struggles to find his rhythm at times.
In 29 Premier League appearances this season, Loftus-Cheek only scored once as Fulham were relegated.
Nevertheless, he is still a fine player who is arguably yet to hit his peak.
Thomas Tuchel seems to agree. The German thinks Chelsea’s academy graduate is a great player, and even likened him to Michael Ballack.
The Express quote him as saying: “I was quite a fan of him when he was even younger. It reminded us a bit of his style of play and movements with Michael Ballack.”
With the likes of Mason Mount, Hakim Ziyech, Christian Pulisic, Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante and Kai Havertz already at Stamford Bridge, competition is rife.
The Blues have plenty of competition in centre-midfield, attacking-midfield and also out wide – Loftus-Cheek is capable of playing in all of these areas.
In that respect, this transfer saga is worth keeping an eye on, as the London-born midfielder might not have a future at Chelsea.
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