There’s no real reason for Barcelona to look at Ruben Loftus-Cheek and think that they must have him, but revenge and proving a point are strong motives, which might lead to the British teenager leaving Chelsea for the La Liga champions.
Barcelona and other Spanish clubs are tired of seeing their most talented players being poached away by Premier League clubs, having no way to protect their youth side players from being signed by other clubs because they don’t have a professional contract. It’s one thing letting them go, but they’re also denied to option of making some money off of them, already seeing three players leave to Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea this summer.
While trying to get the Spanish FA to create some regulations and rules prohibiting this loss of talent to English clubs, Barcelona might simply enact on a revenge signing of their own, targeting 17-year old Ruben Loftus-Cheek according to the Daily Mail, who is part of the Chelsea U-21 squad, and also an England international in the U-17 side.
It’s hard to say right now if the central midfielder has a real future as an enforcer or big talent in the middle of the pitch for both Chelsea or Barcelona, but the trajectory is certainly to become a meaningful player in the next three to four years for both club and country.
Playing for Barcelona? You’d think that central midfield is the last place they’d need reinforcements from outside of their own training grounds, arguably the best in the world, but if they can find a way to snatch away some young talent from clubs that have done the same to them, the question of whether or not Loftus-Cheek will ever become a starting or even bench player for them doesn’t really bother them.