Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s father has launched a bizarre attack on Jose Mourinho for the lack of playing time he son had at Chelsea when our manager was in charge.

Jose Mourinho held him back. He should have been playing. Everyone behind the scenes was asking: ‘why isn’t he playing?’ If Ruben was playing for Mauricio Pochettino, he’d have 70, 80, 90 first team appearances by now.

He is like a Rolls Royce. He used to win all of the player of the year awards. But once Chelsea clapped eyes on him they knew what he was. They knew he was special.

It’s worth noting that Loftus-Cheek has made 32 first team appearances for Chelsea in total since Mourinho gave him his debut, and 22 of those have been since Mourinho left. Mourinho played him 10 times in nine months.

Guus Hiddink, who replaced Mourinho after he was sacked, played Loftus-Cheek 11 times, seven of those as a substitute.

The following season, with Antonio Conte in charge, Loftus-Cheek played in 11 games all season. Five of those appearances were in domestic cup games, with him playing 90 minutes once. In the remaining six appearances, all in the Premier League, he played a total of 31 minutes, or five minutes a game. Bear in mind, at this point, he’s 21-years-old, so should be expecting far more playing time than Mourinho could have offered him when he was just 18.

Loftus-Cheek has since been sent out on loan to Crystal Palace by Conte for this season.

Mourinho doesn’t give youngsters a chance? Marcus Rashford, as a teenager, made more appearances for United than any other player last season.

Whatever the reason for Loftus-Cheek being unable to hold down a first team place at Chelsea, it isn’t Jose Mourinho.