Chelsea have weighed up whether to bring midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek back to the club this month, according to reports.
TEAMtalk claim that the Blues were one of the clubs offered the chance to snap up the 30-year-old, and an approach was “discussed”.
However, it appears the decision was taken out of their hands, with Loftus-Cheek subsequently opting to close the door on a move away from his current team AC Milan.
His departure seemed to be on the cards as he had less than 18 months left on his contract at the San Siro, but it now looks like he could sign an extension to his current deal.
Why was a move for Loftus-Cheek under consideration?
Head coach Liam Rosenior is keen to add more depth in the middle of the park. Both Romeo Lavia and Dario Essugo have been suffering from injury problems, and there has been an overreliance on both Moises Caicedo and Andrey Santos as a consequence.
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Loftus-Cheek was sold by Chelsea for an initial £15m in the summer of 2023, and he has spent the last two and a half seasons in Serie A.
The England international is one of two players based in Italy who have been looked at this month. A move for Juventus’s Douglas Luiz (who had been on loan at Nottingham Forest) was also explored, but he has joined Aston Villa instead.
Are Chelsea considering any other alternatives?
We listed four potential options in our article yesterday, but there are now doubts over whether a midfielder will be secured before the transfer window shuts.
The club have until 7 pm on Monday to bring in any fresh faces, and they are very much in a race against time to add numbers to the first-team squad.
Read more about the Chelsea First Team Squad for 2025/26 here