Rio Ferdinand has advised Ruben Loftus-Cheek to leave Chelsea if he continues to be left out by Maurizio Sarri.
The 22-year-old has played just 33 minutes in the Premier League this season as Chelsea strengthened their midfield with the arrivals of Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic in the summer.
Sarri has promised that Loftus-Cheek will get more playing time once Chelsea’s fixture schedule becomes more congested.
But Ferdinand has warned that the midfielder runs the risk of going mentally and physically ‘stale’ at Stamford Bridge.
‘Obviously the players are not good enough [for these teams],’ said Ferdinand on BT Sport.
‘The young kids like [Phil] Foden, [Ruben] Loftus-Cheek and [Dominic] Solanke who are winning tournaments for England at youth level, if they’re good enough they’ll be playing.
‘It’s such a lucrative game for these [club] managers and their jobs are on the edge every single game, and they want players who are going to win instantly.
‘These players obviously aren’t being blooded properly.