Ian Wright: 'Ruben Loftus-Cheek better than Tiemoue Bakayoko'

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 11 November 2017

Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright insists that champions Chelsea were wrong not to give Ruben Loftus-Cheek a chance to stake a first-team place this season.

Ian Wright has suggested that Chelsea would have been better off showing more faith in Ruben Loftus-Cheek than splashing out £40m to sign Tiemoue Bakayoko from Monaco.

The 21-year-old felt forced to leave Stamford Bridge during the summer to seek first-team football elsewhere, ending up at Crystal Palace on a season-long loan deal.

Loftus-Cheek has performed well for a poor Palace side since arriving, doing enough to earn a first senior England cap in Friday night's goalless draw with Germany.

After being voted Man of the Match in that friendly, former Arsenal striker Wright claimed that Chelsea made the wrong choice by offloading their academy graduate.

"I watched Bakayoko the other day up front or playing further forward against Manchester United and he never done anything in that game that made me think that he's a better player than Loftus-Cheek," he told ITV Sport.

"Now I'm not knocking Chelsea because Chelsea can do whatever they want but the fact is that surely you've got to give the guy a chance. I've seen him and he's better than Bakayoko for me."

Bakayoko, who played a pivotal role in Monaco's Ligue 1 title success last season, has featured 15 times for Chelsea since arriving.