Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s Chelsea return will be better than any new signing, but fans must be patient and can’t expect the levels he showed last season right away.
The 24-year old midfielder suffered a very bad achilles injury and his recovery has been drawn out, needing to rebuild the muscles in his legs again before he started kicking a ball.
It was great signs seeing him back in full training with the senior squad last week though, and he comeback is finally coming.
Back with the ⚽️ at his feet!
@Rubey_LCheek 🤩 pic.twitter.com/QwhGPLPkoi
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 24, 2020
But he has a little way to go and will be getting a few matches in with the Under-23s before he is unleashed back into the senior fold once again.
But just as with Callum Hudson-Odoi, fans should not expect miracles from the off. As with such a long time out, he will need time to find his feet and confidence on the pitch again.
As reported by Goal, Lampard said:
”Of course, we’ve missed a player [Loftus-Cheek] of that level and it is nice and put a smile on everyone’s face on Friday because he is popular with his team-mates too. A smile on everyone’s face to see him back.
”It was the first day with us fully on Friday and it was a light session so that suited him. He has a fair way to go still, and I’m not pessimistic there. He just needs a full week training with us first, a tough week.
”Then he will need some U23 games, and again I think the break comes at a nice time for him to work and we’ll gauge it the other side of that break and see where he is. It might be too early [to face Leicester in the U23’s on Friday].
”The week’s training is the important thing because he hasn’t had that at first-team level. Then we will consider the games after that.
“I think you will miss Ruben; I don’t care who you are. You’ll miss his abilities. His natural physique, his ability to move the ball well and score the goals like he did last season, that has to be a big part of his game as well.”
