Chelsea will ‘cash in’ on Ruben Loftus-Cheek for £25m, claims Gary Neville

Gary Neville believes Chelsea will cash in and sell Ruben Loftus-Cheek for £25 million after the England international failed to impress against Brighton.

The Blues star operated as a No 10 for Frank Lampard’s side, but failed to connect with Timo Werner, though the visitors ran out 3-1 winners at the Amex.

After missing more than a year following an achilles injury, Loftus-Cheek is looking to recapture the exciting form he displayed towards the end of Maurizio Sarri’s reign at Stamford Bridge.

But Neville believes his time is running out and that the Blues will be tempted to sell soon, even though the 24-year-old has four years remaining on his contract.

“I thought, Loftus-Cheek, he's been given his chance,” Neville told Sky Sports. "I thought he was really disappointing. I don't think Loftus-Cheek can complain. He's been given games.

“I don't think he's ever grasped his chance yet. There's going to come a point when they're going to cash in and get £25million for him.”

Lampard leaped to the defence of Loftus-Cheek after Monday night’s game though, insisting the player can offer him plenty in a number of different roles.

"Ruben obviously has been out for a long time and even his return to play was pretty broken by the lockdown and the restart when he was just available to play a few games," said Lampard.

"So we certainly have to give him a bit of time on those fronts. It's a position that Ruben can play for us, we've got injuries with Ziyech out and Pulisic out as well.

"They are players that will come back and give me lots of options, so it was interesting for me to see Ruben in that number 10 position today, he can certainly give us lots in those areas."