Chelsea: Impossible to keep Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ross Barkley happy

Chelsea has always been blessed with an abundance of central attacking midfielders in the last two decades or so.  Frank Lampard is the obvious benchmark for all players who will come after him, but lest we forget Deco, Oscar, and Juan Mata. In recent times, two quasi-young English midfielders have been on our books: the once upon a time referred to as Rolls-Royce player Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Liverpool-born Ross Barkley. Two players who got to Chelsea via very different routes, but right now find themselves in the same boat: overtaken by young Mason Mount in importance at the club, and unsure whether a future at Chelsea is the best thing for their career.

Loftus-Cheek is one of those players you love to watch when he is at full flow. At 6’3″, the academy star stands a head above his peers and uses his body to guard the ball, push away and drive through his opponents. As expected. The unexpected part is his tender handling of the ball, displaying the kind of skills and dribbling ability normally associated with tiny, nimble-footed wingers. He is calm in possession and seems to almost always find his pass. From the time he broke out of the academy, he was the long-sought-after successor to John Terry; an academy player who rose to be a constant feature in the first team. He has been with Chelsea since the age of eight. RLC seemed to fulfill this early promise after scoring in a 2-0 win against Scunthorpe United in the FA Cup, becoming the first player in a decade to be at Chelsea before the age of ten, and score for them (excluding John Terry).

Ross Barkley, roughly 350 kilometers away in Liverpool and was lucky enough to play for his boyhood club, Everton. He had two loan spells earlier on in his career to Sheffield and Leeds, but the midfielder truly burst onto the scene when he was just 17, debuting in the Premier League against QPR in August 2011. Unlike RLC who had to fight world-class competition, Barkley played in a mid-table Everton side, allowing him to gain more experience, sharpen his skill set, and grow in confidence. He became a mainstay of that Everton side for years, despite constant changes in the technical bench. David Moyes, Roberto Martinez, and Ronald Koeman were all wowed with Ross during their spells at the helm of the club. While Barkley does have some pace and power, perhaps his technique in and around the box, and his willingness to shoot are his biggest strengths. It seemed like Chelsea had once again snapped up a bargain when we managed to pay just fifteen million pounds to bring him to the Bridge.