Arsenal Legend Baffled by Loftus-Cheek Loan as Chelsea Ace Sparkles on England Debut

Ian Wright has suggested that Ruben Loftus-Cheek is a "better" player than Chelsea's £40m summer signing Tiemoue Bakayoko.

The Arsenal legend spoke in the wake of England's stalemate with Germany at Wembley on Friday night and, in quotes carried by the Daily Mail, offered up his opinion about the two Blues midfielders.

Loftus-Cheek was sent out on a season-long loan to fellow Premier League side Crystal Palace in order to give the 21-year-old some much needed first-team experience.

That decision by manager Antonio Conte allowed the Italian to make room in his senior ranks to acquire Bakayoko from last season's Ligue 1 champions Monaco.

After watching the France international in action against Manchester United last week, however, and seeing how Loftus-Cheek played against Germany, Wright was left at a loss to explain the reasoning behind Chelsea's summer business.

He queried: "I watched Bakayoko the other day up front or playing further forward against Manchester United and he never done anything in that game that made me think that he's a better player than Loftus-Cheek.

"Now I'm not knocking Chelsea because Chelsea can do whatever they want but the fact is that surely you've got to give the guy a chance. I've seen him and he's better than Bakayoko for me."

Loftus-Cheek was awarded the Man of the Match gong for his display in London on Friday - a feat all the more impressive given he was making his senior debut for the Three Lions.

The former Under-21 international was lauded by fans and critics for his mature performance against Joachim Low's men, with his strong bursts from the centre of the park helping to give England an added dimension on the Wembley turf.

The central midfield star had made just 32 appearances for Chelsea's first team since his debut back in December 2014, and has already featured eight times for the Eagles this term.