A few weeks ago, Jose Mourinho stated that the biggest title won by the Chelsea youth team was the emergence of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and not winning the FA youth cup. Over the years, the Chelsea youth academy has been extremely strong and this has translated into several titles in terms of the FA youth cup.

Yet, it has not produced first-team players as the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal have done over the years. Chelsea continue to rely upon the transfer window to strengthen the squad. In this situation,Loftus-Cheek produced some excellent performances in the few matches that he played towards the end of the season.

Mourinho stated that the 19-year-old had a very promising future if he continued to develop in the same way. However,Loftus-Cheek appears to have taken a huge step back in his development after being heavily criticised by Mourinho following a recent performance. The England youth international played only 25 minutes in a friendly match before being taken off. Mourinho stated that the substitution was not a precaution due to injury, but a reflection of the poor performance from the youngster. The Portuguese stated that he is a manager who demands incredible work rate from his players and this should be even more important in the case of youngsters.

"Ruben said he had a pain in his back but what I was feeling was that he only had the pain when Sydney had the ball. When Chelsea had the ball he was playing very well, but when Sydney had the ball I think he was more impressed by watching Matic and Mikel work, instead of him working.So, with Ruben, it's one step back in terms of my relationship with him. If he doesn't know what it is to play for me and Chelsea it's one step back,” said Mourinho.