English Legend Believes That This Chelsea Star Is As Good As Salah and De Bruyne, Did Conte Miss A Trick?

Former English footballer Garth Crooks has insisted that Chelsea loanee Ruben Loftus-Cheek is as good as Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne.

Loftus Cheek is currently at Crystal Palace and has helped the Eagles to secure top-flight football again next season after battling for safety most of the campaign.

Chelsea have made plenty of mistakes regarding their transfers over the past few seasons and are probably about to make another one in the form of Ruben Loftus Cheek. The Blues are likely to sell the midfielder in the summer in order to generate transfer funds for new arrivals at Stamford Bridge. But Loftus Cheek has impressed heavily for Crystal Palace despite an injury that kept him out for a few games

Former Manchester United forward Garth Crooks is already a massive fan of the young superstar, comparing to Chelsea mistakes Mohamed Salah, who has flourished immensely at Liverpool and Kevin De Bruyne, who is arguably the best player in a team full of stars at Manchester City.  Garth Crooks has spoken highly of Loftus Cheek weighing out a deal for both Chelsea and Crystal Palace.

In his column for the BBC Team of the Week, Crooks posted, “The first thing Roy Hodgson must do, above all else now Crystal Palace have secured their Premier League status, is to sign Ruben Loftus-Cheek on a permanent basis, Chelsea do not appear to have the time or inclination to develop this talent any more than they did Kevin de Bruyne or Mohamed Salah. The on-loan Chelsea midfielder didn’t just rain on Stoke City’s parade, he sunk it. The on-loan Chelsea midfielder didn’t just rain on Stoke City’s parade, he sunk it”

Loftus Cheek was sensational against Stoke City as Palace came from behind to send the Potters down to the Championship and securing safety for his own side. He was loaned out to Selhurst Park earlier this summer after failing to make an impact at Chelsea under manager Antonio Conte. Roy Hodgson has done an incredible job at Palace and Loftus Cheek has contributed to the Premier League outfit’s growth by scoring twice and notching up three assists in 23 league appearances for the Eagles.

However, the question now remains that should such a talented midfielder be let go by Chelsea? Or will the Blues finally learn their lesson in starting to keep faith in their young stars?

If we take a look at Mohamed Salah, the Egyptian international has been on fire for Jurgen Klopp’s Reds scoring 43 times this season helping Liverpool secure a spot in the Champions League final. Kevin De Bruyne also was once part of Chelsea but the West London outfit allowed the Belgian to leave and he returned to haunt them. De Bruyne’s 12 goals and 19 assists including some spectacular play led Manchester City to the Premier League and League Cup.

So should Chelsea hold on to Ruben Loftus Cheek or sell the promising 22-year-old superstar to Crystal Palace? All the answers will be found after the completion of the summer transfer window.