Soon-to-be Lazio boss Maurizio Sarri wants to make Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek his first signing.
That's according to Sky Sport Italia, via Metro, who say that the 25-year-old is wanted by the former Blues manager, who appears on the brink of another job in Italy and being appointed by the Serie A side.
Loftus-Cheek spent the 2020/21 season on loan at Fulham, but struggled to make a huge impact during his short spell at Craven Cottage, with Scott Parker's side being relegated back down to the Championship.
The English midfielder has become somewhat of a forgotten man at Chelsea, which was not helped by the serious Achilles injury he suffered at the end of the 2018/19 campaign.
The injury kept him out for around 13 months, but he did return to the Blues side after 'Project Restart', where he made nine appearances in all competitions.
Prior to the disastrous injury, Loftus-Cheek established himself as one of Sarri's key players in the Italian's one season in charge at Stamford Bridge.
The powerful midfielder featured 40 times for the west London club in all competitions, scoring 10 goals in the process - which left Blues fans excited about his future.
However, he failed to kick on and lost his place under Frank Lampard and was subsequently loaned out to Fulham. Now, fresh reports coming out of Italy state that Sarri wants a reunion with Loftus-Cheek, and it's clear that the two have admiration for each other judging by past comments.
Sarri labelled the central midfielder as "very important" during his short stint in London.
"Loftus, he's a very important player. He's improved a lot during the season," he said back in 2018/19.
"When he's at the top, physically, for us he's a very important player. As you know, he's always in trouble with his back.
"It's not easy for him to train with consistency."
The compliments were somewhat repaid by Loftus-Cheek, who praised the style of football Sarri brought to Stamford Bridge.
As per ESPN, the Chelsea midfielder said: “I think you can definitely see at times that we play some really top, top football.
“The football is flowing and we create chances really easily when we’re playing well. That’s down to the manager and what he’s tried to drill into us through the season.
“It’s always difficult when a new manager comes in and you play a different formation with different tactics, but we’ve worked hard on it all season and at times you can see it coming out.
“It’s only a matter of time before we really nail it and then we can play well game after game after game.”
It's clear to see the respect the pair had for each other during their time at Stamford Bridge - and that may be carried over to Rome if reports in Italy are to be believed.
