Date: 30th April 2018 at 5:09pm
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Simon Phillips discusses the development of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Mason Mount.

Chelsea are all set for a summer of change, whether it be at the coaching level or the playing staff. One thing for sure is there will certainly be some new faces. There will, of course, be old faces returning as well, with the army of loan players coming back to the club ready to negotiate their next moves.

While Antonio Conte’s Chelsea career looks set to finish; the two young English midfielders will be hoping to kick-start their careers with the former Premier League champions.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek is one Chelsea youngster who many of us have raved about for some time, and rightly so. There aren’t many players who come through who have that special natural talent about them, that ‘something different’ that makes you believe that they can succeed, along with the right coaching. But the 22-year old Crystal Palace loanee is indeed one that I place in that category.

This season he has made 22 appearances for Palace, and despite struggling with injuries, he has impressed those in the world of football. So much so that he’s even earnt his first two England caps, and looks set to join them in Russia this summer for the World Cup.

It will be a make or break season for him next year regarding whether his career will be at the club he has been at since the age of 8, or elsewhere.

A ‘Ballack style’ midfielder, Ruben has the ability to make it at Chelsea and become a valuable first-team player. He will return to Stamford Bridge for pre-season in London once again, after hopefully featuring for England in the 2018 World Cup finals. He will fully believe that this will be the real start to his Chelsea career, and I am inclined to agree.

Mason Mount is younger and offers different attributes than Loftus-Cheek. However, he too will re-join the blues at the start of their pre-season campaign, so I understand. The club have plans to assess and talk to the England Under 19 world cup winner before deciding the best course of action.

There are allegedly a number of Premier League and European sides interested in taking Mount on loan next season. Although it might be tempting to add Mount to the Chelsea squad next season, I fully believe that a loan in England’s top league will be the best possible next move for him. He needs to keep that momentum up of playing regularly, and that would be a risk at Chelsea right now.

He has been winning all sorts of awards while on loan at Vitesse, including scooping the club’s player of the year award last week. He has announced himself on the world stage as a superb technical talent who is not typically English in playing style, and perhaps mirrors those coming through the ranks of Barcelona for example, with his ability on the ball. He is slightly built and not typically powerful like many English youngsters, but he is still strong on the ball and naturally gifted.

Mount will look to impress the Chelsea staff when he returns to Cobham in the summer, a lot will depend on who is the head coach at Stamford Bridge, but believe me when I say that Mount will confidently feel that he is already good enough to join this Chelsea squad and stake a claim for next season.

What are your thoughts? Let us know!

 

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