Loftus-Cheek 'had his best years under Tuchel'

Ruben Loftus-Cheek was a casualty of the unprecedented churn of players at Chelsea between the Roman Abramovich ownership and the Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital era.

He was the first player to properly break through the now-revered Cobham academy under Abramovich's ownership, which made him an important figure at Stamford Bridge.

Loftus-Cheek had his best years under Thomas Tuchel, who made it one of his pet projects to allow the player he compared to Germany great Michael Ballack to realise his potential.

However, it was downhill after Tuchel was sacked by the new owners and Loftus-Cheek endured a chaotic 2022-23 season as Chelsea finished 12th.

Around this time, midfielders Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo joined for more than £100m apiece and academy players were sold for 'pure profit' to help balance the books.