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Ruben Loftus-Cheek refuses to rule out Crystal Palace return

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 12 September 2018

Loftus-Cheek refuses to rule out Palace move

Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek insists that he is focused on the Blues, but refuses to rule out a return to Crystal Palace in January.

Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek has refused to rule out the possibility of returning to Crystal Palace when the transfer window reopens in January.

The 22-year-old's performances on loan at the Eagles last season earned him a place in England's World Cup squad this summer, but he has struggled to hold down a regular place back at his parent club during the current campaign.

Loftus-Cheek has been limited to just two substitutes appearances - totalling 33 minutes - under Maurizio Sarri, but the England international is hopeful that more regular opportunities will come in the near future.

Asked if he could head back to Palace in January, Loftus-Cheek told reporters: "Possibly, but it is still far away, there are still a lot of games to play and I just have to see what happens. Right now I am at Chelsea and my focus is at Chelsea and learning at Chelsea. That is in the future and we will deal with that when it comes.

"I'm not sure when I am going to play. It is just down to me working hard in training, I don't know whether I am going to play or not play but for me it stays the same, I still train well and do everything the right way in case I do play. There are a lot of games coming up so I think there will be more opportunities coming for players that are not playing every week.

"We have to be ready and do our best when we get the chance. We had a lot of talks in the past couple of weeks and [Sarri] said to me that I need to learn tactically so a lot of my focus and effort is learning his tactics and his ways in training. I think the quicker I get then the more opportunities I will get to play. He is helping me and Gianfranco [Zola] is helping me every day to learn it as quickly as possible and that is great for me."

Loftus-Cheek made 24 Premier League appearances for Palace last season - the same number as he has made in his four years as a member of Chelsea's first-team squad.