Ruben Loftus-Cheek: Has the Chelsea academy found a new John Terry?
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has insisted youngster Ruben Loftus-Cheek will remain at Stamford Bridge next season and he will be given first-team games.
The 19-year-old, who has been with Chelsea since he was eight years old, was promoted to the first team squad by Mourinho in February alongside two of the clubs other brightest prospects, Nathan Ake and Isaiah Brown.
And the Portuguese stated that the midfielder would be a regular if the Londoners were not involved in the title race and expects big things next season.
"I had Ruben Loftus-Cheek on the bench and I have to say that, in my opinion, next year, this kid will be a big surprise in the Premier League," Mourinho said.
Loftus-Cheek made his senior debut for the club in December last year, replacing Cesc Fabregas for the final seven minutes of a Champions League clash with Sporting Lisbon.
He made is first Premier League appearance a month later as a stoppage time replacement for Oscar in January's showdown with Manchester City.
Chelsea currently have 26 players out on loan across Europe, and interestingly no youngster made the breakthrough at Stamford Bridge during Mourinho's first spell at the club, thus Loftus-Cheeks' emergence could be significant for young British talent in West London.
But just who is Ruben Loftus-Cheek? talkSPORT takes a look...
Ruben Loftus-Cheek
Date of birth: 23 January 1996 (age 19)
Born: Lewisham, England
Club: Chelsea
Position: Midfielder
Loftus-Cheek joined Chelsea aged eight and has steadily progressed through the ranks. In 2013-14, he captained the Blues' U18s as they won the FA Youth Cup and he was a regular for the U21s as they won the Under-21 Premier League.
Playing Style
Loftus-Cheek is a 6ft 4in midfielder that is so highly regarded the Blues offered him a £18,000-a-week salary at 17.
His powerful style of dominating play represents an all-round player missing in the modern game and his style is similar to that of Nemanja Matic and Loftus-Cheek has previously stated that he watches the Serbian to learn from his game.
If Loftus-Cheek can improve to the level of Matic, and add an attacking threat, then there is no doubt he will become a Chelsea and England regular in the future and could go on to become one of best all-round English midfielders of a generation.
International honours
Loftus-Cheek captained England schoolboys to U16s Victory Shield four years ago, and he has featured for England at both U17 and U19 level.
For the U19s, the 19-year-old has won 10 caps, scoring six goals.
Why his progression is so important?
Chelsea have not produced a young player for their first team in a decade, despite spending heavily on recruitment - both in terms of their scouting set-up and transfer/compensation fees.
Chelsea's academy costs £8m a year to run, but with only John Terry progressing from youth-team hopeful to first-team regular - 14 years ago - Loftus-Cheek's emergence is significant both for the Blues as a club and English football.
And Mourinho has pinned responsibility firmly on himself if Loftus-Cheek and some of the other young prospects do not progress to full international level.
“If, in a few years, (Lewis) Baker, (Isaiah) Brown and (Dominic) Solanke are not national team players, I should blame myself,” he said.
"I have players who will be Chelsea players. And when they become Chelsea players, they will become England players, almost for sure."
Watch the video below to see highlights of Ruben Loftus-Cheek: