Lampard confirms Loftus-Cheek may leave Chelsea on loan

Frank Lampard has confirmed Ruben Loftus-Cheek could leave Chelsea on loan amid reported interest from Aston Villa and West Ham.

Loftus-Cheek has been left out of Chelsea’s last three games since starting in the 3-1 opening day victory away to Brighton in the Premier League.

The 24-year-old was sidelined for most of the last season as well through a gruesome Achilles tendon rupture. He returned to competitive action post-lockdown to make nine appearances overall, although only two of them came as a starter.

Missing out on a spot on the bench for Chelsea’s 6-1 Carabao Cup win over Barnsley was perhaps the biggest sign of his role in Lampard’s plans, with Loftus-Cheek now considering his options as he seeks a return to top form.

Premier League sides Aston Villa and West Ham United are reportedly interested in completing a season-long loan deal.

“I’m very open with Ruben and we’ve had a couple of conversations in the last week,” said Lampard on the club’s website.

“He’s fit as a fiddle so he can play week-in, week-out and he needs to play coming off the back of a lot of work now. He would have been playing games earlier if it wasn’t for lockdown.

“There’s a possibility that he may go out to play games because I think that will be great for him. We hold him in very high regard here, I certainly do and that could be a good option for him. If that’s not the right option he’ll be competitive in this squad as well because of the qualities he has.

“I’m relaxed about it but I want to find the best path for Ruben and the best path for us so at the minute we’ll see with the week we’ve got ahead of us.”

Lampard added: “He’s had a difficult time and the injury was a bad one.

“He hasn’t played as many minutes for this club as he would liked to have done for different reasons but just before his injury he was playing really well and contributing.

“I was really looking forward to getting him back fit and working with him because I know what he can do. He gives us something different in terms of his physicality, how he plays and how he receives the ball but there is also a priority for everybody that Ruben plays games.

“That’s the delicate balance of what we’re trying to get right over the next week and we’ll do what feels right.”