Sarri Raises Doubts Over Loftus-Cheek’s Selection Chances For Chelsea’s Game Against West Ham

Sarri Raises Doubts Over Loftus-Cheek’s Selection Chances For Chelsea’s Game Against West Ham

Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri says that Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s persistent back problems are making it hard for him to be selected for the first team on a consistent basis.

The 23-year-old has missed a number of matches this season with the issue, and Sarri doesn’t believe the England international is capable of playing a full game at the moment:

“He is tactically a very good midfielder, at the start of the season he was a very offensive midfielder and now he is complete.”

“We need to check every day the condition of his back. This morning he had only a recovery session because he needs time to recover after a match. The problem is he probably cannot play 90 minutes.”

As Sarri says, Loftus-Cheek has improved a great deal since the start of the season, but his fitness has meant he has had to use him sparingly.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek Press

With Chelsea facing West Ham on Monday, there will be a five-day gap between the last game against Brighton so it may be enough time for the midfielder to be in contention to start.

However, Loftus-Cheek has missed 12 Premier League games, mainly due to the back issue, and it begs the question, how good he could potentially be when fully fit.

The midfielder has played 31 times in all competitions this campaign, scoring eight goals and providing three assists.

David Tully

David Tully

David has worked as a football reporter for the last fifteen years. Having started as an intern at Snack Media, he then went on to become a freelancer, working on various different sites. At the start of 2023, he took up his current role as content writer for National World's Football News Network.