Crystal Palace: £18m ace must 'weigh up' making Selhurst Park return

Crystal Palace have been linked with a move for Chelsea’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and pundit Carlton Palmer has urged the midfielder to ‘weigh up his options’.

The 26-year-old enjoyed a successful loan spell at Selhurst Park throughout 2017/18 and could return on a permanent basis after finding regular game time hard to come by in west London.

It seemed as though Loftus-Cheek, who is valued at £18m by Transfermarkt, was destined to depart his boyhood club last summer after suffering relegation with Fulham in 2020/21 in what was an underwhelming temporary switch.

However, the 10-cap England international has slowly worked his way into Thomas Tuchel’s first-team plans, making 35 appearances for the Blues across all competitions this term.

But only 16 of those outings have come as starts, with Jorginho, N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic firmly ahead of Loftus-Cheek in the pecking order.

And Palace chairman Steve Parish has recently opened the door to a potential return to south London for the 6 foot 3 ace when discussing the possibility of signing him and fellow Chelsea star Conor Gallagher.

“I’m sure at the end of the season, Conor will work out what he thinks the best thing for him is, and that will be the catalyst for it,” said Parish. “If there’s an opportunity to get him or even Ruben Loftus-Cheek, then of course. These are top players”

Loftus-Cheek is yet to feature from the off in over 22 league games during a single season, with persistent injury issues often restricting his game time.

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And Palmer has urged the immensely talented engine room operator to think carefully about his next move amid speculation over Palace’s interest.

He told