Chelsea legend Michael Essien: Ruben Loftus-Cheek must stay and fight for chance

EXCLUSIVE
Vaishali Bhardwaj17 October 2018

Ruben Loftus-Cheek has been urged to stay and fight for his place at Chelsea by club legend Michael Essien.

Loftus-Cheek has only made one start under new coach Maurizio Sarri this season - in Chelsea's 1-0 Europa League win against MOL Vidi before the international break.

The midfielder impressed on the right-side of Chelsea's three-man midfield in that game but, despite his display and the fact he was part of the England side that reached the semi-finals of the World Cup, Loftus-Cheek has still struggled to break into Sarri's side.

Competition for midfield places at Stamford Bridge are high - with Jorginho, N'Golo Kante and on-loan Real Madrid midfielder Mateo Kovacic having so far been preferred by Sarri in his 4-3-3 system while Ross Barkley has begun to feature more in recent weeks.

REUTERS

Essien, who played for Chelsea between 2005 and 2014, understands all too well how tough the fight to play regularly at Chelsea can be - but he believes Loftus-Cheek should remain patient and stay at the club as "football changes very quickly".

"Well, I mean he has to stay," Essien exclusively told Standard Sport when asked about Loftus-Cheek's future at Chelsea.

"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.

Catherine Ivill/Getty Images

"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."

Essien was speaking to Standard Sport at the UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour - Driven by Nissan.

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