Back in the January transfer window, West Ham were mentioned as one of the clubs hoping to sign Ruben Loftus-Cheek on loan.
According to a report by The Sun in December, West Ham wanted Loftus-Cheek on loan with a view to a permanent move.
The England international would have been the ideal box-to-box midfielder for Manuel Pellegrini but Chelsea kept him.
And last night, Loftus-Cheek turned in a stunning performance against West Ham. The elegant midfielder bossed the game from the middle of the park.
RONALDO NEEDS TO STOP WHINING.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek vs. West Ham
(Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
Loftus-Cheek caused West Ham all sorts of problems during the 69 minutes he was on the pitch. He even got the better of Declan Rice on a number of occasions.
The 23-year-old completed 42 passes with a completion rate of over 80 per cent. Two of those were key passes and one was an assist for Eden Hazard’s wonderful solo goal.
Loftus-Cheek also completed five dribbles and had two shots of his own as he caused West Ham numerous problems (all stats via Who Scored).
Here are some tweets from West Ham fans discussing Loftus-Cheek’s impressive performance last night.
RLC was a monster tonight, alongside Kante and Hazard they dominated our midfield.
We lack a box to box midfielder Geo.— Sim ⚒W.H.U.⚒. (@BeckleySim) April 9, 2019
First time I can remember seeing Rice out muscled by a single player on multiple occasions
— robert smith (@darobsta08) April 8, 2019
Thought Rice struggled tonight and this isn’t a criticism of him as such but RLC beat him on many occasions, just got done by a better player and tbh it’s the first time (off top of my head) that I’ve witnessed someone doing that to Declan this season.
— Geo Mackie (@redhammer8) April 8, 2019
Thought RLC was immense. So strong on the ball. Feel that Declan may only be able to make that next step up if he was surrounded by better players everyday… 😬😬😬
— Adam McTaggart (@Taggsy79) April 8, 2019
Loftus-Cheek is a big, strong guy who Chelsea underuse – he definitely taught Declan a lesson nut the good thing was that he kept on trying. Our guys being outnumbered in midfield didn’t do them any favours!
— Michael (@mick_the_miller) April 8, 2019
In other news. I’d love if we bought RLC
— Blake (@heavy_sunshine) April 8, 2019
Cheeky loan bid to Chelsea to get him to play with Declan next season
— andrew wickstead (@AndrewWickstead) April 9, 2019
Agree, thought Loftus Cheek bossed him all game to be honest. Think his forms dipped for us a little bit since he got picked for England. He’s set himself high standards now, so when he has a bit of an off day probably stands out a bit more.
— Gary Mills ⚒ (@GaryMillsy) April 9, 2019