If Eintracht Frankfurt wants to enter the Europa League final against FC Chelsea on Thursday evening (9pm live on DAZN), Adi Hütter’s team will have to eliminate the best man in the first leg: Ruben Loftus-Cheek. The 23-year-old is about to become the new Michael Ballack in the blues – if there weren’t two problems.
“In the semifinals, at the age of 23. He was Chelsea’s best player. He played great.” Praising words for Ruben Loftus-Cheek after the semi-final first leg against Eintracht, from none other than former international Owen Hargreaves. “He deserves a special mention for his performance tonight,” Hargreaves said at BT Sport.
In fact, the tall midfielder was the best man on the pitch in Frankfurt in front of an electrifying atmosphere. Loftus-Cheek fired the most goal shots, led the most duels and won a strong 61 percent of them. In addition, he achieved something that only Lionel Messi has been able to show in the European Cup this season: “RLC” won an enormous nine offensive dribblings. Oh, and Pedro’s score to 1-1, of course, he also prepared.
Hargreaves didn’t try to make a comparison this evening, but he would actually be predestined for it. After all, he had played with Bayern Munich for four years with the midfielder who is used on the island as a comparison for Loftus-Cheek. Never mind, let’s quote former Chelsea and Three-Lions manager Glenn Hoddle: “He reminds me of Michael Ballack in his way of playing and his physique. He moves very well and seeks his way into the penalty area.”
It was Michael Ballack who Loftus-Cheek closely followed a good decade ago, when he ran through the youth teams of the Blues and Ballack won a total of seven titles in four years alongside Frank Lampard, John Terry and co. “I’ve learned his style, especially when I’m a teenager and sometimes still play eight today,” says Loftus-Cheek – although his favourite player at a young age was Zinedine Zidane: “He wasn’t the strongest or fastest player, but at the ball he was outstanding, always calm and serene.
Loftus-Cheek’s similarities to Ballack are unmistakable on the square. The Englishman has the same stature as the “Capitano” and thus brings an enormous physicality into play. The same space-consuming steps, and yet he’s extremely smooth on the ball, as the Frankfurters found out, whom he left several times last Thursday.
With his abilities Loftus-Cheek actually seems to be the born eighth, even though ex-Chelsea manager Antonio Conte could have imagined him as a striker due to his good technique and one-on-one skills. A box-to-box player who controls the central midfield and repeatedly advances to the opponent’s penalty area. One from the tradition of Ballack, Lampard or Essien. One from his own youth who is about to become the darling of the audience at Stamford Bridge. And could become the leadership player of the future. Wouldn’t that be two problems?
Ruben Loftus-Cheeck has back. For years. “Cheeky”, as he is called by his teammates, has a deformation of the spine in his lower back that keeps putting him out of action – and has done since he was 17 years old. “I don’t think that any intervention is necessary,” his coach Maurizio Sarri said after the first leg against Frankfurt. “I think he’ll have trouble with that for longer, probably for the rest of his career. But we can get around an operation.”
Loftus-Cheek himself, who, despite his imposing stature, says that he largely abstains from strength training, works with club physios to find the cause of his problems: “Whenever I feel something, we try to exclude causes. Meanwhile he tries yoga: “I’m not very good, but you have to start somewhere.”
Whether it’s yoga or not, Loftus-Cheek is currently in a good phase with his back. “In the last month he could train every day”, praised Sarri, “this is very important for us. In Germany he played very well up to his cramps. I’m happy for him.”
Despite Sarri’s words of praise, Loftus-Cheek has not yet completely won the favor of his trainer. A few days after his dominant appearance against Eintracht, he was back on the bench against Watford in the fight for the Champions League qualification. Loftus-Cheek was only allowed to intervene after an injury to N’Golo Kante. He came, saw and headed the goal to 1-0. Then Sarri praised him as a “complete” midfielder.
The draft bank, it’s been tracking Loftus-Cheek for years. Like so many young pros from Chelsea’s talent factory, just think of Callum Hudson-Odoi, he had a hard time finding the right time. Too many high-priced top stars in the squad, too much chaos in the club, too many coach changes.
After 31 assignments with the professionals over a period of three years, Loftus-Cheek embarked on the path of so many blues talents and was awarded Crystal Palace for a year in 2017. There he showed good performances, became a regular and even a national player. Under Gareth Southgate, he patrolled the middle of the field, took part in the World Cup and played for 274 minutes in four games. Done, Chelsea brought him back last summer.
But the capricious Sarri didn’t know what to do with Loftus-Cheek. In autumn, the young star rarely made it into the squad, then Sarri pushed him to the left in midfield, then to the right – and suddenly he watched again. Since the end of January Loftus-Cheek has been playing regularly again, even at the head office. He’s only allowed to play through it very rarely. 38 matches sound great at first, 23 of them in the league – but with 18 substitutions. 14 players in the squad come 2018/19 on more minutes than him.
Loftus-Cheek presents himself as a team player. “Sarri’s honest with me, he’s been honest with me all season. He told me where I could improve and that I had to work hard.” He had to improve his press and overview skills. “Now I’m getting fitter because I’m playing more, and I’m getting better.”
However, he has not yet been able to agree with the Blues on an extension of the contract, which runs until 2021. Not because Chelsea wouldn’t want it, at the latest after the now confirmed transfer ban. But like Hudson-Odoi, Loftus-Cheek first wants to see where the journey goes, where his minutes should come from, whether the coach stays, and so on.
Even if there’s no agreement: This summer, Chelsea will not let him go under any circumstances, perhaps 2020 for a corresponding transfer fee. But it could also be all in well and good if Eden Hazard found his way to Real Madrid – and suddenly a place in the central midfield would be free.
