Ruben Loftus-Cheek is still working his way back to his best after an Achilles injury that would have ended the careers of players who are older than him.
At the age of 24, Loftus-Cheek has his best years still ahead of him and he started to show signs of his old self when Fulham secured a 1-1 draw with Spurs in midweek.
The midfielder is on his second loan spell away from the club, having also plied his trade at Crystal Palace during the 2017/18 season in south east London as a talent that had emerged onto the scene but needed regular game time.
He made 24 appearances for the Eagles that season, which was disrupted a bit by ankle and thigh injuries.
Now down the road Craven Cottage he has made 12 appearances and is in the midst of one of his most consistent runs of games for 18 months and definitely his longest run of consecutive appearances since his achilles injury.
Loftus-Cheek tore his Achilles tendon in Chelsea’s Say No To Anti-Semitism charity match against New England Revolution in Boston in May 2019, missing Chelsea’s Europa League final victory over Arsenal in Baku later that same month.
Lampard has maintained previously that Loftus-Cheek has a big future ahead of him at Chelsea but felt he needed to be playing regular minutes this season to continue to get his fitness back, something that Scott Parker is so far acknowledging.
The 24-year-old can’t play against Chelsea this weekend for Fulham as per the terms of his loan move and that might be a good thing considering the form the midfielder displayed in the Cottagers midweek draw.
Not that Lampard wasn’t thrilled to see the midfielder, who turns 25 next week, excelling.
I thought he played well and I was really pleased to see that because when Ruben was getting fit and was with us, I felt like we missed him last year,” Lanpard said.
“And when Ruben was getting fit, I was excited because I know the attributes he has and I wanted those attributes at the club.
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“The conversations I had with Ruben earlier in the season were that he wasn’t feeling as sharp as he wanted to be on the back of a really bad injury which he had. Could he go and play games because he felt he needed games and maybe he could get regular games elsewhere.
“Seeing him play recently, I see him looking fit, fresh and strong. We know he’s an obvious talent so it’s great. If he can keep that up hopefully through the season and if he can get back to where he was and more then I’ll be very happy and he’ll come back as our player, for sure.”
Seemingly Lampard has big plans for Loftus-Cheek when the midfielder’s loan at Fulham comes to a close at the end of the season. It’s just a case of finding somewhere to fit him in with the abundance Lampard has in an attacking sense at Stamford Bridge.
