Former England and Crystal Palace manager Sam Allardyce has told Chelsea star Ruben Loftus-Cheek to leave Stamford Bridge on a permanent deal in January, talkSPORT reports.
The midfielder starred for England at this summer’s World Cup in Russia after a fine season on loan at Crystal Palace last campaign, but Loftus-Cheek has so far made just three outings in a Blues shirt for Chelsea this season.
Many people expected this year to be a breakthrough for the youngster in the Chelsea side but after starting his first game for new manager Maurizio Sarri in the Europa League last week, he was criticised by the boss for his lack of tactical understanding and then left out of the Chelsea squad for their game against Southampton.
Loftus-Cheek has also been dropped from Gareth Southgate’s England squad for their upcoming UEFA Nations League fixtures against Spain and Croatia due to his lack of game time.
Allardyce has now called for the youngster to leave Chelsea on a permanent basis in order to fulfil his potential.
I’m disappointed for Loftus-Cheek.
Chelsea have told him he’s going to be a part of the team this season and, if that is the case, they haven’t lived up to that yet.
What he did for Crystal Palace last season and for England at the World Cup, I thought this would be a big season for him at Chelsea, but it’s simply not happening.
If I were Loftus-Cheek I would be battering the door down in January and saying, ‘that’s it, I need to get away’.
And not on loan, get away from Chelsea properly and build his own career.
He’s had the taste of playing first team football at Palace and obviously he loves Chelsea, but it’s not happening for him there.
He’s got to play. He’s too talented not to play, we’ve all seen that.
