According to what has been reported by Italian sports news website Sportal, Lazio are considering a move for Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek. The Englishman, 24, has been linked with the Biancocelesti in the past but it appears he resides near the top of sporting director Igli Tare‘s shopping list, as the Albanian searches for midfield reinforcements to bolster the squad ahead of a likely return to UEFA Champions League football.
Loftus-Cheek joins Hungarian midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai on the list, the Salzburg midfielder catching the interest of many large teams, however, and recently specifically discussed a potential desire to play for AC Milan. Therefore, it appears more likely that the English midfielder could be on his way to Rome, as long as the Biancocelesti can afford to pay his price-tag.
Sportal report that Lazio are willing to spend no more than 20 million euros to bring either Loftus-Cheek or Szoboszlai to the Eternal City, which may be optimistic considering the big-money suitors of the Hungarian and Loftus-Cheek currently playing for Premier League giants Chelsea. For this reason, his wage may also be an issue. ESPN reported, back in July 2019, that Loftus-Cheek’s contract saw him earn a base wage of £60,000 per week (around €67,000 p/w) with bonuses seeing it rise to closer to £150,000 per week (€169,000 p/w); more. In comparison, it is believed that Sergej Milinkovic-Savic‘s current wage at Lazio totals around €4.6 million a year, or just over €88,000 per week. It is unlikely that the club, therefore, would be able to offer Loftus-Cheek such a lucrative deal before ensuring that he will be an effective part of the team.
Loftus-Cheek has struggled with injury in recent seasons but at just 24-years-old, there is still a chance that he will develop into a world class players, given that he can escape his fitness problems.
