According to The Telegraph‘s Transfer Deadline Day blog (12:45pm), Newcastle are unlikely to sign Ruben Loftus-Cheek on loan from Chelsea due to Steve Bruce’s failure to offload his fringe players.
The likes of Henri Saivet, Rolando Aarons and Achraf Lazaar earn £90,000-a-week between them according to the report, which has strained Bruce’s budget and limited the amount of players he can bring in.
Additionally, the Magpies attempted to sign Ross Barkley before he moved to Aston Villa, but the same issue prevented them from landing the ex-Everton man.
Missing out on Loftus-Cheek is a real shame. The Chelsea man is a force in midfield when he gets going, impressing enough while on loan at Crystal Palace back in 2017/18 to land a place in Gareth Southgate’s World Cup squad.
Former England manager Roy Hodgson even went as far as saying that the 24-year-old ‘has more strings to his bow’ than Chelsea and Germany icon Michael Ballack – high praise indeed.
Sportsmail (via Sky Sports) quote the Crystal Palace manager as saying: ‘I’d say he goes by people more than Ballack did. But I think he’s got Ballack’s power and his pace and his strength – he’s definitely got that. But he’s maybe got more strings to his bow than even Ballack had.’
Elsewhere, Loftus-Cheek’s teammate Cesar Azpilicueta has previously branded the Englishman as a ‘complete player’ – with his strength, close control and eye for goal, it’s hard to argue with the Spaniard.
Speaking to Chelsea’s official site, he said: ‘He’s understanding the game better, when he has to drive with the ball, and he has unbelievable strength. He can push past defenders, get in the box, score goals, and he defends. He is a complete player.’
There is still time for Newcastle to do a deal for the midfielder, although it appears someone will have to leave St James’ Park if that is to happen.
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