Willian has cheekily demanded Chelsea recall Ruben Loftus-Cheek from Crystal Palace following his man-of-the-match England debut during the international break.

Loftus-Cheek’s Stamford Bridge team-mate said he had no idea why the 21-year-old, who he declared had “a great future”, had been sent on a season-long loan to Palace.

Willian, who came off the bench during Brazil’s goalless draw with England on Tuesday - in which Loftus-Cheek was forced off with a back injury - said: “I don’t know why he is at Crystal Palace now. I don’t know why.”

He added with a smile: “He has to come back!”

Loftus-Cheek was the star of the show on his England debut in Friday’s 0-0 draw against Germany and showed flashes of his ability on Tuesday as well.

Dubbing him “a very good player”, Willian said: “He is strong, he has quality. He has a great future.”

Willian in action against England at Wembley on Tuesday night credit: AP

Willian also declared Tuesday’s match to have been one of Brazil’s toughest since Tite took charge last year.

The five-time World Cup winners had won 13 and lost just one of their previous 16 games under their new manager but were suffocated at Wembley.

Willian said: “We have had a lot difficult games and this was one. They stayed behind the line of the ball. We tried shifting it to the other side but we did not create much.”

Tipping what had been a young and inexperienced England team to improve “a lot”, he added: “England are a very strong team with young players, quality players. It was difficult for us to find spaces because they had a lot of players behind the ball.

“It was a good game and we created four or five chances to score but we didn’t.

“England always have good and strong players. They can improve a lot, like us. I think they can do that.”