N'Golo Kante Insists Fringe Chelsea Teammate Ruben Loftus-Cheek Is 'Ready to Play'

Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante has claimed that home grown talent Ruben Loftus-Cheek is 'ready to play' for the club after making an impact on loan with Crystal Palace last season and impressing on international duty with England at the World Cup.

Having stayed with the club over summer rather than go out on loan again, Loftus-Cheek has played just 33 minutes as a substitute for Chelsea so far this season, much to his frustration.

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Competition for midfield places is tough, with Kante, Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic the preferred trio for manager Maurizio Sarri in the last game. Ross Barkley is also looking to be involved, while even outcast Danny Drinkwater is still at the club.

But World Cup winner Kante, who is rated 89 on the soon-to-be-released FIFA 19, thinks that Loftus-Cheek can now make an impact at Chelsea given the chance.

"When I came to Chelsea, Ruben was already here and for sure he is a good player. Now he's in the England squad. He did well last season at Crystal Palace and I think he's ready to play," the former Leicester star told Sky Sports.

"He's played some good games and now it's the manager's decision. We all have the chance to be at Chelsea and to play with some of the best players in the league. We can all learn from that but he needs to keep working, to keep improving and I hope it will come at the right time.

"Everybody has some difficulty at some point in their careers but we need to use this moment to build ourselves as a player and learn from that."

Chelsea are looking to maintain their 100% winning start to the Premier League season when they host newly promoted Cardiff, who are still without a win, at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.