Ruben Loftus-Cheek is going through perhaps his best patch of football ever with the club.
The 26-year-old has taken on an integral role under new manager Graham Potter and was heavily trusted by Thomas Tuchel as well in the final weeks of his tenure. It comes after years of loans, waiting, injuries, setbacks and ultimately, dwindling hope.
After the true breakthrough for him in 2019 was dashed by injury, he never really has recovered as a first team player at Chelsea until recently. His role with England disappeared and the discourse was to finally discuss if letting him go was the best solution for all parties.
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Nine matches into this season and he already has nearly half the total minutes from last term. He has started seven games of the nine - he only started 13 last season - and looks like a key player under Graham Potter. Perhaps his performances aren't in the same fashion as the goals and assists his started to pick up under Maurizio Sarri, but the impact he is having is more evident.
Under Sarri, Loftus-Cheek still only started six league games but managed six goals and two assists. In the successful Europa League run he got his first club hat-trick. Under Potter and Tuchel this season he hasn't played a hand in a goal yet, but he is being moved across the pitch seamlessly and controls matches regardless.
Relied upon in a deeper role against AC Milan at Stamford Bridge, the former Fulham and Crystal Palace loanee was only overshadowed by Reece James' excellence. He ran the game in a disciplined position that few have trusted him with. Jose Mourinho wanted Loftus-Cheek to be a deeper player despite his attacking midfield upbringing, this had shades of that vision.
He was rotated for the away trip with the metronomic Jorginho preferred, Loftus-Cheek as a substitute in the second half against a weary and deflated 10-men is unfair, he's already tough enough to win the ball from, in this situation his performance for 28 minutes was controlled but brutally efficient.
With an opposition tasked with stopping James and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, not to mention Raheem Sterling or Mason Mount, Loftus-Cheek can spring up on you despite his imposing frame. That's what happened to Milan. Maybe seeing him as a weak point, get to close and he runs past or through opponents. His feet have always been remarkably good for the cliched 'big man' and it showed.
Loftus-Cheek wades through the midfield. It bamboozled Milan and reports have suggested that Paolo Maldini was 'bewitched' by the midfielder.
Such is the current relationship between Chelsea and the Italian champions, with deals for Olivier Giroud and Fikayo Tomori concluded last summer and initial talks held for Rafael Leao with Todd Boehly, Maldini, according to CalcioMercato, has even asked about the possibility of signing Loftus-Cheek at the games.
There was a feeling 18 months ago that he would be allowed to leave, with his deal ending in 2024 and Chelsea knowing full well the pitfalls of allowing contracts to wind down slowly, they may just be kicked into gear given the interest. Loftus-Cheek's performances have already raised the late question as to his position in regards to the 2022 winter World Cup. He was taken and used by Gareth Southgate at Russia 2018 and is perhaps more likely to find himself involved than other rogue players on the outside due to the previous relationship.
As for Chelsea, given their determination to sign Leao, if they did decide that Loftus-Cheek could be of value to them in a different sense, knowing Todd Boehly's liking of a swap-deal, putting two and two together could lead to conversations of a trade of some sort.
This isn't something that would go down with Chelsea fans though. Loftus-Cheek has long been a pioneer of academy success and his impact right now is a brilliant sight. Even if it complicated a move for Leao, Chelsea would surely be better off keeping their midfielder, especially in form such as this.
Loftus-Cheek surprised many with his role last term but even that was more down to luck than expectation. Chelsea would have let him go had a good offer come in, before injuries to James and Ben Chilwell he was almost always a substitute. It wasn't until the post-March struggles that he was used as a centre-back and surprise wing-back, but even then it felt like too little too late. With midfielders becoming a need over the summer, his role was still more of a backup than to start.
If this form continues then Chelsea may finally get the best of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, but what that is and how good that is, nobody truly knows.
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