Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson has admitted that he wanted to bring back Ruben Loftus-Cheek on loan to Selhurst Park for this season, however, Chelsea did not allow this to happen.
The youngster spent last season on loan with the Eagles in a deal that was supposed to give him more experience at the highest level and he exceeded expectations.
The 22-year-old helped the Eagles to avoid relegation from the Premier League under the guidance of Hodgson and is performances were so impressive that he even won inclusion to the England squad which reached the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup.
Loftus-Cheek is now seen as one of the best upcoming talents in English football and is expected to contest for a key role within the Chelsea first-team this season.
While Palace helped him to kick-start his career, the player will likely favor the opportunity to establish himself at his boyhood club. Unlike the Eagles, the Blues also offer him the opportunity to potentially win silverware.
Despite this, Hodgson did admit that he wanted to secure a loan deal for the impressive youngster once again.
The ageing manager said according to Sky Sports: “I know the club had been in conversations about Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Steve Parrish knows how much we would have liked to have brought Ruben here again.
“I must say it doesn’t surprise me that at the moment Chelsea are saying they are not prepared to loan him out.
“And we did what we can do to say look ‘if he isn’t going to play for you and you are thinking of loaning him out again can you loan him back to us?'”
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