Chelsea set to hold new long-term contract talks with super-talented 26- year old midfielder.

 Per Simon Philips, the £150,000-per-week midfielder is set to hold contract talks with Chelsea.

Chelsea are set to enter talks with midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek over a new contract, according to journalist Simon Phillips.

The 26-year-old has been a regular for the west London club this season, and Phillips says both parties now want to discuss an extension.

Loftus-Cheek has been ever-present in the English top flight this term.

Out of the 11 appearances he has made so far, nine of those have been starts, showing that he has been an important player for Graham Potter and Thomas Tuchel before his dismissal last month.

It is something new for Loftus-Cheek, who has often been a bit-part player at Stamford Bridge. Last season, he only made 13 starts in the Premier League, while the campaign prior, he was sent out on loan to Fulham.

Things have now changed for him, though, and with N'Golo Kante set for a long spell on the sidelines after undergoing surgery on his hamstring injury, you would expect Loftus-Cheek to continue to get minutes.

Phillips has told GIVEMESPORT that Loftus-Cheek and Chelsea will soon open talks over a new contract.

Speaking about the England international, who has less than two years remaining on his existing £150,000-a-week deal, the journalist said: "He wants to extend, and I believe that, as of now, people at Chelsea continue to be happy with him and will soon enter talks to extend."

As already mentioned, he has been a big player for them this season. The fact that Kante has become injury-prone and will be a free agent next summer is also probably being taken into account.

With Jorginho's contract also running down, in short, Chelsea have a bit of a midfield problem. Considering that, there is obviously a lot of sense behind giving Loftus-Cheek a new deal.

He is not a bad footballer either. In fact, Tuchel once called him "special", while former Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand described him as a "fantastic specimen" when praising the Chelsea star last year.

"I love him,” Ferdinand said on BT Sport (via talkSPORT). "He’s a fantastic specimen first and foremost. I liken him in full flow, like we are seeing him now, to Yaya Toure. He can intimidate players, when he turns and gets in full pelt."

If Loftus-Cheek stays fit, he should continue to be a pretty useful player for the Blues, especially with Kante out for so long.