OPINION
West Ham United are known admirers of Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and so the Hammers faithful will be hoping that Ray Parlour’s recent comments on the player prove correct.
The Mirror reported earlier this month that the Hammers were keen on bringing in Loftus-Cheek on loan in January.
And Parlour believes that all the England international need do is tell Chelsea that he wants to leave the club in order to play first team football: “He’s getting more opportunities now and I thought it was very positive what [Maurizio] Sarri said about trying to get both [Ross Barkley and Loftus-Cheek] in the team, which could happen,” he told the Express.
“All they’ve got to do is keep putting in those performances and really put pressure on the manager, then who knows? There’s a certain time in your career when you’ve got to play on a regular basis. They’ve now got to decide when that’s going to be.
“Whether their representatives do that or whether the manager will or whether they will themselves, I’m sure the club won’t stand in their way if they say: ‘Look, we need to go and play’.”
West Ham fans will be praying that the Blues take the stance that Parlour expects them to, assuming that Loftus-Cheek will approach them for a move if his lack of football continues.
Barkley has usurped him for a first team spot this campaign, while summer signings Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic are clearly preferred by Sarri as well.
Because of that, the future doesn’t look particularly bright for the midfielder at Stamford Bridge. A move across London would be ideal, and would give him the perfect platform to demonstrate his skills with an ambitious club like West Ham.
Surely the 22-year-old cannot continue to sit on the sidelines while his career stagnates. If he does what Parlour says, then he might just find himself playing in claret and blue come January.