Chelsea transfer news: Jose Mourinho plays down news signings Nathan and Yoshinori Muto but talks up Ruben Loftus-Cheek

Loftus-Cheek is the latest hope from the Chelsea academy whose Under-19s have just won the Uefa Youth League

Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Getty Images)

Jose Mourinho promised that next season Ruben Loftus-Cheek would be a key figure in his Chelsea first team squad, but he was less willing to take responsibility for two more impending signings from overseas.

Loftus-Cheek, 19, is the latest great hope from the Chelsea academy whose Under-19 team won the inaugural Uefa Youth league this week. The following day it emerged that Chelsea were in the race to sign the 19-year-old Brazilian Nathan from Atletico Paranaense as well as the Japanese striker Yoshinori Muto, 22, from FC Tokyo.

Asked about Nathan in his press conference, Mourinho replied: “I'm not worried about that. I'm not working on that. Not at all.” When a Japanese reporter questioned him on Muto, he said: “I don't make offers in this club. I coach players.”

He was more open about Loftus-Cheek, from Lewisham, who has already made his senior debut. Along with Dominic Solanke, Andreas Christensen, Nathan Ake and Isaiah Brown, he has trained with the senior squad this season.

Mourinho said: “Next season, Ruben will not be a kid in the development process. He will be a first-team player, absolutely ready to play and compete. And we will do the same with two or three players. The older ones will go on loan to play in the Championship, the Premier League, even abroad. It's a process. But to have them all at the same time in the first-team squad is hard. For sure, Ruben next season will be considered a player ready to go.”

Mourinho claims Loftus-Cheek will feature in the first-team next season (Getty Images)

On Patrick Bamford, a key figure in Middlesbrough’s promotion push, Mourinho said: “He has a chance to be promoted with Middlesbrough. That's why he's there, to develop himself and help Middlesbrough. I don't have to speak about him. These last few matches, and possibly the play-offs, are important for him in his development.”