Daily Mail

You’re going nowhere, Chelsea tell Loftus-Cheek

- by SAMI MOKBEL @SamiMokbel­81_DM

RUBEN Loftus-Cheek looks certain to stay at Chelsea until January at least after manager Maurizio Sarri slammed the door on the England star leaving next week.

The midfielder, who played a key role during the World Cup, is in danger of losing his place in the squad for next month’s games against Spain and Switzerlan­d due to a lack of game time.

Loftus-Cheek has played just 22 minutes so far this season and did not even make the bench for last Sunday’s 3-2 win over Arsenal, a decision that has cast doubts over his position in Sarri’s plans.

The 22- year- old midfielder remained at Stamford Bridge when the English transfer window closed two weeks ago, but still has an opportunit­y to leave before the end of the month with the market still open in Spain, Germany and France.

A move could help Loftus-Cheek stay at the forefront of England manager Gareth Southgate’s plans as he looks ahead to Euro 2020, a situation the player is aware of.

However, Sarri insists LoftusChee­k will not leave this month despite refusing to guarantee the Chelsea academy graduate regular first-team action.

‘I have spoken with him twice this week, after I spoke with the club, so I think that Loftus-Cheek will remain with us,’ said Sarri. ‘We can speak again about his situation, but only in December. My decision not to name him on the bench was only about positions. I chose to put two wingers and only one midfielder on the bench.

‘I am not able to promise anything to anybody. It’s up to him. It’s not tough for me keep players happy. For me, it’s very easy. I have only to look at the training and then I decide on the squad. I have told the team that, this month, they have to be patient because we play only once a week.

‘But starting from September, we play three games a week, so there will be space for everybody.

‘I can understand frustratio­ns, but then I have to decide. I don’t know if he will be available on Sunday. We have training so I have yet to decide for this match.’

Gary Cahill is in a similar scenario as he faces up to losing his place in the England squad following the World Cup in russia.

Sarri admitted: ‘I think that, in this moment, for a defender it’s more difficult to play in my team after only 20 days of training. It’s easier for an offensive player. So I think that, at this moment, he needs to have a lot more defensive training with us.

‘I’ve spoken to him, I told him that he needs to be patient now but that he is very important for us.’

Meanwhile, Sarri has hit back at Napoli owner Aurelio de Laurentiis, who criticised the Italian for his failure to win a trophy during his time in charge.

Sarri left Naples for Chelsea in the summer and De Laurentiis told L’equipe: ‘There remains the pleasure of having played well but also the bitterness of not having won anything. We gave Sarri everything and in three years we didn’t win anything.’

In response, Sarri said: ‘ He is talking about me because he is missing me. Do I miss him? At the moment, no. We didn’t win in Naples, but we had the record number of points for the club, and the second and third best.

‘We qualified three times for the Champions League and it was unusual for Naples. So I think we did very well. Nobody won in Italy except Juventus in the last seven years.’

 ?? GETTY IMAGES ?? Laugh it off: Loftus-Cheek looks lively in training
GETTY IMAGES Laugh it off: Loftus-Cheek looks lively in training
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