Crystal Palace manager interested in re-signing Chelsea youngster

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson has claimed that he would like to sign Ruben Loftus-Cheek, should the Chelsea star be available for a transfer.

The 22-year-old English midfielder was on loan at the Eagles last season. He impressed under Hodgson and earned a place in the World Cup squad for the Three Lions.

Loftus-Cheek wasn’t allowed to leave this season, and the midfielder has just one start to his name. That came against Vidi in the Europa League, and the Englishman has played just 99 minutes of first-team football for the Blues.

Hodgson was speaking to the press (h/t Football.london) on Friday and was ready to move for the starlet.

“We admire him, we like him very much and we wish him well, and of course like a lot of other clubs I’m sure, when the day comes when he becomes available for transfer, we will be sticking our noses into that. But whether we will get him again, that’s another matter. Who knows, we will see.”

The 22-year-old certainly did a great job for Palace last season and Hodgson was keen to highlight that too.

Hodgson didn’t want to push the transfer talk too much and it will be important to see what happens with the English midfielder in the coming months.

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The youngster needs to play regular football to continue his growth, and Maurizio Sarri will have to provide the Englishman chances to prove his ability on the pitch.