Chelsea are prepared to let Ruben Loftus‑Cheek leave on loan this month and Brighton have emerged as a shock contender for him.

West Ham are also in the running for Loftus‑Cheek, who has been earmarked in recent seasons as Chelsea’s best hope of an academy graduate establishing himself in the first team.

But the 20-year-old midfielder has started just two games — both in the EFL Cup — for new coach Antonio Conte. His only other appearance was as a late substitute in a League game in October. Last term, the England Under-21 international featured 17 times for Chelsea.

Standard Sport revealed in November the club were considering a loan so he could get regular first-team football. They are already listening to offers and Standard Sport understands Championship leaders Brighton have made an enquiry.

The players on Chelsea’s transfer shortlist 16 show all The players on Chelsea’s transfer shortlist 1/16 The players on Chelsea's wishlist... Lindsey Parnaby/AFP/Getty Images 2/16 Alexis Sanchez | Arsenal Arsenal FC via Getty Images 3/16 Alex Sandro | Juventus Getty Images 4/16 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain | Arsenal Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images 5/16 Ross Barkley | Everton Getty Images 6/16 Djibril Sidibe | AS Monaco AFP/Getty Images 7/16 Virgil van Dijk | Southampton Getty Images 8/16 Adama Traore | Middlesbrough 9/16 Cedric Soares | Southampton Getty Images 10/16 Ryan Bertrand | Southampton Ian Walton/Getty Images 11/16 Mousa Dembele | Celtic Getty Images 12/16 Fernando Llorente | Swansea Getty Images 13/16 Marco Verratti | PSG AFP/Getty Images 14/16 Faouzi Ghoulam | Napoli Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images 15/16 Danny Drinkwater | Leicester City Getty Images 16/16 Renato Sanches | Bayern Munich Bongarts/Getty Images 1/16 The players on Chelsea's wishlist... Lindsey Parnaby/AFP/Getty Images 2/16 Alexis Sanchez | Arsenal Arsenal FC via Getty Images 3/16 Alex Sandro | Juventus Getty Images 4/16 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain | Arsenal Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images 5/16 Ross Barkley | Everton Getty Images 6/16 Djibril Sidibe | AS Monaco AFP/Getty Images 7/16 Virgil van Dijk | Southampton Getty Images 8/16 Adama Traore | Middlesbrough 9/16 Cedric Soares | Southampton Getty Images 10/16 Ryan Bertrand | Southampton Ian Walton/Getty Images 11/16 Mousa Dembele | Celtic Getty Images 12/16 Fernando Llorente | Swansea Getty Images 13/16 Marco Verratti | PSG AFP/Getty Images 14/16 Faouzi Ghoulam | Napoli Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images 15/16 Danny Drinkwater | Leicester City Getty Images 16/16 Renato Sanches | Bayern Munich Bongarts/Getty Images

West Ham are also interested but Chelsea will want assurances Loftus-Cheek will get game-time before letting him move.

Significantly, Chelsea are still in negotiations with Atalanta over 20‑year-old midfielder Franck Kessie and their pursuit of the Ivorian has raised more questions over Loftus-Cheek’s future.

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