The entire fan following of Chelsea football club will be sensing a huge sigh of relief as the club has appointed Antonio Conte, who is considered as one of the best tacticians in the business. The Italian manager surely has a tough task ahead as he needs to rebuild the entire squad from the beginning. With many players rumored to be leaving the side, Conte will be given the job to convince the players to stay.
We all area aware of the fact Chelsea have deployed their young troops to the different parts of Europe and they all will be coming back with a hope to get a first team chance. Well, it is a rare sight to see Chelsea playing with a young squad, but that was mainly due to their former coach, who never gave them the chance.
But the arrival of the Dutch interim changed the course as he introduced some youngsters and they shone as well. But it will be a surprise for everyone of us to see how Conte will deal with the youngsters. Conte wants his players to be tough on the field, and therefore, many believe that very few names from the academy will get their chances.
The Dutch interim did a pretty good job last season and he introduced the 20-year-old English midfielder, Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Yes, he was brought up by Jose Mourinho, but his pure presence was felt when Hiddink took the charge.
The 20-year-old joined Chelsea at the age of eight. He went on to win three FA Youth Cup, one Barclays Under 21 Premier League and one UEFA Youth League with Chelsea’s youth team. His senior debut for the side came in December 2014, and till date, he has made just 21 appearances for the side, 17 of which came in the last season.
The 20-year-old is one of the most versatile players in the Chelsea squad and is capable of playing almost every position in the midfield. After his first-team debut, Barney Ronay of The Guardian described Loftus-Cheek as an “intriguing” player of “long-striding grace” saying that with his “shielding, covering, deep-playmaking presence with a calmness in possession and a naturally telescopic reach”
The Englishman is known for his dribbling abilities and his physical strength. He has a great muscular built that allows him to engage himself up for a head to head challenge. He is naturally a right-footed player, but can do wonders with his left foot as well. Talking of Chelsea’s current situation, the London side does not have a concrete attacking midfielder besides Pedro, who struggled a lot in his first season with the club.
As stated earlier, Loftus-Cheek is capable of playing in almost every position and just due to his brilliant sprinting techniques and his dribbling abilities, he could be used as a serious threat from the attacking midfield area. The 20-year-old is a tireless worker, who never gets afraid to track up and down on the field and that would make him a perfect option for Antonio Conte.
We haven’t witnessed a young player making his career through the ranks of Chelsea in recent times, but here we can honestly say that Ruben Loftus-Cheek is an exception and is expected to get more gametime under Conte.