Is this Chelsea midfielder what Birmingham City need?

In a similar article to Monday’s where I looked at Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Harry Winks, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at what players are just on the cusp of the first team at Chelsea.

As pretty much every football fan knows, Chelsea have one of the best academy systems in all of football but it is very rare that many of their kids get to make it to the Premier League stage.

Well, unlike most, Ruben Loftus-Cheek has had a taste of first team football with Chelsea but the recently crowned champions of England gave off their strongest hint towards the end of the season that they may be willing to let 21-year-old go out on loan for the 2017/18 season.

In the final two home games against Watford and Sunderland, games that Chelsea went on to win, manager Antonio Conte left Loftus-Cheek out of both because of a slight back injury but he was adamant that he would have played in them otherwise.

However, there is an underlying story behind him not playing other than just his injury. Conte didn’t want to risk Loftus-Cheek because he is ready to send the England Under 21’s star out on loan for the next campaign.

The Italian said: ‘We have to make the best decision for him next season.’

In everyone’s eyes, the best decision for Loftus-Cheek would be to move away from London for the season to get a full years worth of games under his belt and with Birmingham City manager Harry Redknapp admitting shortly after the win over Bristol City on the final day of the season that he had already had contact from some ‘big’ clubs, it makes you wonder whether Chelsea were one of those teams.

Last January, Blues were among several teams linked with a move for the academy product and his name has since cropped up again so again it makes you think, there has to be some interest there.

A source close to Vital Birmingham told us in January that there was a genuine interest from Blues and Gianfranco Zola in Loftus-Cheek but nothing came of it because the Premier League side didn’t think it was right for him at the time.

Well, next season could be the year for the youngster to make a name for himself and hopefully he can make it at Blues.

Blues fans, how far would you like to see the club go to sign Ruben Loftus-Cheek on loan next season? What do you think he would bring to the current squad? Let us know in the comment section down below!