Nemanja Matic excited by ‘brilliant’ potential of Chelsea's Ruben Loftus-Cheek - who's primed to replace him

Stepping it up: Ruben Loftus-Cheek is given a run‑out in a friendly against Fiorentina
(Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Simon Johnson16 October 2015

Jose Mourinho has never been under more pressure to get a victory than when Chelsea take on Aston Villa tomorrow — but it is a sign of his faith in Ruben Loftus-Cheek that he has turned to the 19-year-old to help him secure that all‑important win.

Normally, it would be considered madness to play a rookie with your job and reputation on the line.

But with so many of his stars underperforming after six defeats in 12 games this season, Mourinho has promised Loftus-Cheek a run in the side.

The news has been greeted warmly by Chelsea fans, who are desperate to see a genuine prospect graduate from the academy.

The handful of appearances Loftus-Cheek has made have offered great promise, none more so than his full debut against Liverpool in May, when he boasted a 100 per cent pass completion rate.

Many trainees have flattered to deceive at Chelsea and ended up leaving the club but Mourinho does not believe Loftus-Cheek will be one of them. Significantly, neither does Nemanja Matic, whose place is under threat from the England Under-21 international.

Matic knows how hard it is to break into the Chelsea team, having been sold in 2011 after a brief spell at Stamford Bridge before being bought back from Benfica for £25million two years later.

The Serbian is confident Chelsea will not make such an expensive mistake with Loftus-Cheek.

He told Standard Sport: “Ruben has great potential and is very talented. For his age he is very strong and already mature. If he continues to work like he has, he can become a great player. I can’t say he has reached that level because he is still young and it would not be right to talk him up too much. He still needs to improve and knows that.

“But I’m sure if he continues to work like this, he can become one of the best midfielders in England.

“It is hard to make it as a young player at Chelsea. I had to go to Vitesse Arnhem [on loan] and then to Benfica.

“But it is important for him to understand that he doesn’t need to go to other clubs like I did — he can improve at Chelsea.

“From what I have seen, Mourinho believes in him, is pushing him and wants more from him. This is a good thing. He needs to use our coach, our staff, to improve.”

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Loftus-Cheek’s fine goal and display for England Under-21s against Kazakhstan on Tuesday showed why the thinking is he could one day be a regular for the senior national side.

Matic feels followers of both Chelsea and England must not be too impatient over his progress.

He added: “The thing is England fans and the media are expecting a lot from him too and we will see how he will cope with that mentally, whether he is strong enough to say, ‘Okay, everyone expects me to be great’. Sometimes for young players that’s not a good thing.

“Everybody expects it but there are some that can’t handle that. There is too much pressure.

“But I’m sure if we leave him to improve and people don’t put too much pressure on him, he will be brilliant.”

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