Premier League: Promising Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek signs five-year contract extension

London: Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek signed a five-year contract extension with the Premier League club on Saturday. [caption id=“attachment_6947321” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Reuters[/caption] The 23-year-old made a strong impression during his first season as a regular in the Chelsea team last term and new Blues boss Frank Lampard is expected to make him a key part of his plans. Loftus-Cheek missed out on the Blues’ Europa League final victory over Arsenal after suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon during a friendly in the United States. “I’m really happy and pleased that I get to stay here for another five years. It’s the place where I’ve grown up playing and hopefully, I’ll be playing here for a lot longer,” Loftus-Cheek told Chelsea’s website. Loftus-Cheek joined Chelsea as an under-eight and progressed through the youth ranks to the first team, so far making 72 appearances. A loan spell at Crystal Palace gave the midfielder valuable top-level experience and coincided with his first full England call-up against Germany in November 2017. With Chelsea currently operating under a transfer ban for the next two windows, keeping promising players like Loftus-Cheek is essential to their hopes of competing for a top-four finish in the Premier League. “When I look back and see how the hard work has paid off, it’s a good feeling. That only makes me want to work harder to achieve more in the future. I hope to win a lot more trophies with the team and personally it’s just about trying to do as well as I can and work hard to be a key player for Chelsea,” Loftus-Cheek added. Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia added: “We see Ruben as an important part of the squad for many years to come and we are very pleased he also considers his future to be with Chelsea.”