"Jose Mourinho held him back," said Ruben's father Trevor, after his son made eight appearances under the Portuguese manager before he left Stamford Bridge for a second time in December 2015.
The same number of matches Loftus-Cheek has played this season on loan at Crystal Palace and which have earned him a call from Gareth Southgate, but his father believes the midfielder would have flourished under a different boss.
"He should have been playing. Everyone behind the scenes was asking: 'why isn't he playing?' If Ruben was playing for Mauricio Pochettino, he'd have 70, 80, 90 first team appearances by now," he added.
"He is like a Rolls Royce. He used to win all of the player of the year awards," Trevor praised his son. "But once Chelsea clapped eyes on him they knew what he was. They knew he was special."