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Five potential options for Chelsea’s fourth midfielder spot in 2021/22

By Gabe Henderson

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 14: Trevoh Chalobah and Mason Mount of Chelsea at full time of the Premier League match between Chelsea and Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge on August 14, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by James Williamson - AMA/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 14: Trevoh Chalobah and Mason Mount of Chelsea at full time of the Premier League match between Chelsea and Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge on August 14, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by James Williamson - AMA/Getty Images) /
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Chelsea’s English midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek (L) vies with Arsenal’s Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka (R) during the pre-season friendly football match between Arsenal and Chelsea at The Emirates Sadium in north London on August 1, 2021. (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Chelsea’s English midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek (L) vies with Arsenal’s Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka (R) during the pre-season friendly football match between Arsenal and Chelsea at The Emirates Sadium in north London on August 1, 2021. (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images) /

Chelsea won its opening Premier League match on the season quite comfortably. The Blues brushed off Crystal Palace 3-0, thanks in part due to the dominance of the midfield pivot. Thomas Tuchel gave starting nods to Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho in the contest due to an injury N’Golo Kante suffered during Chelsea’s UEFA Super Cup victory over Villarreal. The knock picked up by the Frenchman opened supporters’ eyes to the true lack of depth in the middle of the park.

Tuchel’s squad currently runs three deep in midfield. Therefore, whichever one of Jorginho, Kante and Kovacic is not in the starting XI on the day, serves as a back-up for both positions. Chelsea had four true central midfielders in its ranks last season with the aforementioned trio and Billy Gilmour. This gave the Blues options aplenty as they were two-deep at nearly every position. Gilmour is now out on loan at Norwich City for the season and the spot is open for auditions once again. Tuchel has a lot of choices and as we near the end of August, he needs to decide soon.

Related Story. Thomas Tuchel hints at Chelsea formation switch, from a certain point of view. light

Here are the options the Blues have to fill that fourth midfielder role:

1. Ruben Loftus-Cheek

If I was a betting man—which I am admittedly not—I’d put my cash down on Ruben Loftus-Cheek being the most realistic option for the fourth midfielder role. While Chelsea players are discovering their homes for the new season left and right, there have been no whispers about a potential move away for the English midfielder. Tuchel rated him highly heading into the season, citing Loftus-Cheek as one of the individuals he was most eager to get a look at during preseason camp. He hasn’t made the best impression of all the returning loanees, that award goes to Trevoh Chalobah, but he has shown he still shows flashes of his old self.

Loftus-Cheek has been viewed as one of Chelsea’s most promising young prospects for quite some time. However, he’s no longer considered young in a footballing sense. The 25-year-old’s window of opportunity to succeed at Stamford Bridge is closing rapidly. He needs to show Tuchel something this season or he’ll undoubtedly depart next summer. Loftus-Cheek played his best football under Maurizio Sarri. The ball-carrying midfielder was one of the Blues’ biggest threats going forward that year until a heartbreaking injury sidelined him for almost two entire seasons.

Fulham was the chosen club to take on Loftus-Cheek’s recovery season last year. Although there wasn’t much to write home about in terms of individual performance (or team performance, considering the Cottagers were relegated), that was never really the point of the loan. The sole purpose of Loftus-Cheek’s temporary switch to Fulham was to get him back up to speed following a brutal injury. Now, he’s ready to blossom again.

If anybody can help Loftus-Cheek reach maximum potential, it’s Tuchel. The German tactician has worked wonders with the midfielders currently at the club. Loftus-Cheek has now got a few weeks of training with Tuchel under his belt, so it’ll be exciting to see what the season ahead has in store for the midfielder if he is tasked with playing that fourth role.

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