Chelsea legend Michael Essien has encouraged Ruben Loftus-Cheek to stay at fight for his place at Stamford Bridge, the Evening Standard reports.
Loftus-Cheek has struggled to break into the Chelsea side this season, having started just one game under new coach Maurizio Sarri – the Blues’ 1-0 Europa League victory over MOL Vidi.
Despite starring for England at this summer’s World Cup, Sarri has preferred to play N’Golo Kante, Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic in a 4-3-3 formation rather than start Loftus-Cheek.
Fellow England international Ross Barkley has also began to feature more for the Blues in recent weeks, but with Loftus-Cheek struggling to come by minutes, it is believed that he could seek a move away from the club in January.
However, Essien, who played for Chelsea between 2005 and 2014, spoke to Standard Sport about the youngster’s future and urged him to remain patient for his chance:
Well, I mean he has to stay.
When you play for a club like Chelsea, you know the competition will always be there and you have to work hard to win your position.
As you said, they have many midfielders but it’s all down to him. He’s such a good boy and he works hard.
Maybe he might want to play more first-team football and games but he has to stay and work hard and you never know – football changes very quickly and he might get his chance.
