Ruben Loftus Cheek is looking forward to feature in Maurizio Sarri’s first team plans after impressing in his loan stint at Crystal palace last season and also with the national team.
The 22 year old became a part of the England’s World Cup squad in Russia under Gareth Southgate and played in all the group stage games, coming off from the bench. He also did enough to make his mark at Palace for a future call in the first team action for the Blues in the new season. Speaking in an interview with Sky Sports, Loftus Cheek declared himself ready to take full responsibility on the front line.
“Being 22 feels quite old, considering some of the boys were playing when they were 17 or 18. I’d like to have more appearances by now, but it’s just the way my journey has gone, and I just have to be patient with it. I can see it as a positive; I’m playing for England, playing well when I play, and that’s without too many appearances so it’s still raw in that sense.”
Loftus also described his short stay at Palace that made an immaculate turn in his footballing career.
“Being at Chelsea, it’s a top club with top players, When I’m training at 17 or 18 with the first team, it was really good for my education playing with these top players. I really enjoyed playing and training with them, I could feel myself getting better every day and improving, but it got to a point where training wasn’t enough and you need the exposure in the Premier League.
“That’s when I took the chance to go to Palace, and even when that happened, I thought I could’ve done it earlier. I started really enjoying my football, playing in the Premier League every week, and I felt the benefits.The benefit of last season at Palace [was first-team football].
“I was fortunate enough to be fit for that period where it’s like a game every three days over Christmas, and I got my body used to being able to play, have a rest, then play on a Tuesday. That was massive for me and I coped with it well.”
It is true that Loftus Cheek’s rise has been stunning. He began his Chelsea career at the age of 8 and made his senior debut on 13th October 2014 in a Champions league clash with Sporting. Since then, there never was a step back for this center forward. Ruben’s ability to strike the ball accurately at first instance, galloping at every ball laid for him and bringing about a physicality in the box characterize him to be one of the best English strikers under formation.
Last season, he spend on loan at Crystal Palace ,earning fruitfulness under the coaching of Roy Hodson, scoring only two goals but many more for his life ahead. Sarri believes in him while proclaiming the maturity the player has shown on the pitch for the talent to shimmer in the future.
At present, Ruben is a person on Sarri’s notebooks and the days are not far behind when we will see the academy graduate relishing his chances of scoring as the perfect number nine for Chelsea.
