Ruben Loftus-Cheek must rethink whether he follows on in the footsteps of Oleksandr Zinchenko following his dazzling display at the heart of midfield. The 26-year-old scored as Chelsea beat Crystal Palace 2-0 for a place in the FA Cup final.
The Cobham graduate has enjoyed an unusual transition from midfield into wing-back, but after a stellar performance back in a double pivot he should rethink where his positional future lies. Loftus-Cheek has featured 31 times since Thomas Tuchel took the helm of Stamford Bridge, often only ever emerging from the shadows during an injury crisis or cup tie.
But despite the England international's innate footballing excellence he's struggled to cement himself as an acclaimed No.8. Whether it be on the left under Maurizio Sarri, striker - albeit a brief spell - under Antonio Conte or, more recently, centre-half under Tuchel, he's never truly shifted into top gear and answered the question that is still at large: can he fulfil his potential?
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Prior to Chelsea's clash with Palace the the Cobham graduate looked destined to reinvent himself as a wing-back - similar to how Zinchenko converted to a full-back despite joining Manchester City as a £1.7million-rated No.10. The Blues boss has never doubted Loftus-Cheek's natural footballing ability, though it seems that his true 'breakthrough' remains in question.
"We knew the player all the time," the Blues boss said during his pre-match press conference ahead of Chelsea's FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace. "It was so promising, but it was always like, will he have his breakthrough? Now, will he have his breakthrough? He is at a certain age now, and he's never had his breakthrough, everybody is still waiting, still waiting for the next step and the next step."
"We speak a lot about this. He is gifted to be here, and it is a huge, huge opportunity," the Chelsea boss added. "He has everything that it takes – he wouldn't play, or we wouldn't count on him otherwise — but he has heard this for many years, maybe too much."
Speaking after the tie with Patrick Vieira's side, Tuchel lauded Loftus-Cheek and politely paraphrased 'I told you so'. The German said: "This is what he shows in training but this is not enough, he needs to show it on the pitch.
"He hides his talent and potential for a long time. He is capable of producing performances that everybody sees on the pitch and also produces performances were he hides his quality, like he did for many years and this is the way to go. "
Though, with Chelsea's rumoured summer transfer targets in mind — Declan Rice and Aurelien Tchouameni — and Conor Gallagher returning at the end of the season, Loftus-Cheek's has a major decision to make soon: pursue a future at wing-back or continue to earn his stripes in midfield?
