He isn’t quite Chelsea’s forgotten man, but Ruben Loftus-Cheek has a lot to prove if he wants to give Thomas Tuchel a selection conundrum.
However, that appears to be exactly what the 25-year-old’s intentions are ahead of the 2021/22 Premier League campaign.
As reigning European champions, and one of the form teams towards the end of last season whilst Loftus-Cheek was plying his trade at Fulham, Chelsea have enough quality in their ranks to ensure that the player will find it difficult to get where he wants to be.
That won’t stop him trying his upmost to ensure that Tuchel has to consider him.
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“I had last season as a season where I can find my feet, and it definitely felt like that at the start,” he told the official Chelsea website, cited by Sky Sports.
“I was struggling mentally and needed to focus on just taking risks in training and get that feel back.
Tuchel appears completely ambivalent towards the situation at present.
“It’s too early to judge Ruben,” he noted after the pre-season friendly against Arsenal, cited by Sky Sports.
“He has everything in his hands. He can decide his own future.”
The ball is clearly then in the player’s court. If he’s unable to break through this season, then he’s arguably better off moving elsewhere.