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Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek has made a welcome return to action from a long-term heel injury after playing an hour of a behind-closed-doors friendly.
The England international has not featured since suffering the Achilles problem in a post-season friendly in Boston last May.
Loftus-Cheek recently rejoined training with the first-team and has now taken another step in his recovery when featuring in the 2-0 friendly defeat to Brentford B on Tuesday morning.
Chelsea said on the club website: “As part of his rehabilitation he played an hour at Cobham for our development squad this morning. He will continue to build up his fitness in the coming weeks.”
Although the 24-year-old is unlikely to be rushed back into club action, should all go well in his recovery, Loftus-Cheek could play himself into contention for the England squad again when Gareth Southgate’s men prepare for Euro 2020 this summer.
Transfer window power rankingsShow all 21 1 /21Transfer window power rankings Transfer window power rankings January transfer power rankings
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Transfer window power rankings 20. Chelsea It's been a bleak window for Frank Lampard, who repeatedly called for reinforcements and yet has seen nobody arrive. Edinson Cavani, Dries Mertens, Olivier Giroud is set to stay against his will, while Tariq Lamptey's refusal to sign a new contract has only added salt to the wound.
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Transfer window power rankings 19. Bournemouth The Cherries have had to be cautious, considering their financial position and the threat of relegation. Sam Surridge has been recalled from his loan spell at Swansea, while Josh King has been heavily linked with a deadline day move to Manchester United. If the forward does leave, it's hard to see Eddie Howe's goal-shy side kicking on in the second half of the season.
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Transfer window power rankings 18. Everton Richarlison isn't going anywhere. Not even for an £85m that doesn't exist. Despite Carlo Ancelotti's arrival, there's very little to report aside from Cenk Tosun departing on loan. The club still can't manage to get Oumar Niasse off the books.
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Transfer window power rankings 17. Norwich Daniel Farke's side have signed German journeyman Lukas Rupp from Hoffenheim as well as Ondrej Duda from Hertha Berlin. With little resources to dip into, the Canaries have, most importantly, held onto their best players, but will that be enough to secure safety?
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Transfer window power rankings 16. Crystal Palace It's a window which could still veer in either direction. Roy Hodgson has repeatedly called for new signings but has so far only seen Cenk Tosun arrive on loan. Extremely highly rated England youth international Nathan Ferguson is set to arrive today, though, as the club brace to miss out on Jarrod Bowen.
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Transfer window power rankings 15. Southampton Kyle Walker-Peters has arrived on loan from Spurs in a straight switch as Cedric Soares joins Arsenal. Aside from that, though, there's been very little activity on the south coast with the owners content after Ralph Hasenhuttl's recent resurgence.
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Transfer window power rankings 14. Burnley Burnley recalled Nahki Wells from his loan spell at QPR to sell the striker to Bristol City, with highly rated Josh Brownhill joining Sean Dyche's side in a clever move for the club, who've also managed to rid of Danny Drinkwater's wages.
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Transfer window power rankings 13. Watford The need for panic at Watford has been significantly subdued by Nigel Pearson's impressive return. Winger Igancio Pussetto has arrived for £7.2m from sister club Udinese, while prodigious Brazilian striker Joao Pedro has finally joined up with the Hornets too.
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Transfer window power rankings 12. Manchester City Tumbleweeds. As was explicitly planned, Manchester City will wait until the summer to regenerate their squad. Mission complete.
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Transfer window power rankings 11. Leicester A window where the sole aim was for Brendan Rodgers' side to hold onto their key players and Leicester did just that, with both Ben Chilwell and Caglar Soyuncu staying until at least the summer. They're also set to finally end their search for another centre-half, with Ryan Bennett joining from Wolves.
Transfer window power rankings 10. Arsenal It was no secret that Arsenal had very little money to operate with in this window and the astute loan signings of Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares, while unspectacular, will certainly provide some much-needed reinforcement for Mikel Arteta's side.
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Transfer window power rankings 9. Tottenham The Christian Eriksen saga cast a cloud over Spurs' January, however, Daniel Levy will be pleased to have secured a £17m fee from Inter Milan, while also shipping out Danny Rose on loan. The £25m arrival of Dutch international Steven Bergwijn has provided excitement, as has Benfica midfielder Gedson Fernandes. The search for a striker though has, so far, left Jose Mourinho criminally short of firepower up front.
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Transfer window power rankings 8. Aston Villa Villa acted quickly to replace Jonathan Kodija with Mbwana Samatta, while Pepe Reina's unlikely arrival from AC Milan could be a huge boost to the dressing room. Danny Drinkwater's arrival is, however, already leaving little to be desired.
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Transfer window power rankings 7. Wolves Uncle Jorge Mendes has worked small wonders again with the arrivals of Daniel Podence and Leonardo Campana, while Patrick Cutrone has been shipped back to Italy.
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Transfer window power rankings 6. Brighton Aaron Mooy proved to be one of the most valuable signings of the summer and Brighton have made the 30-year-old's move permanent. Highly rated Chelsea youngster Tariq Lamptey is also set to join in a coup for Graham Potter's side.
Transfer window power rankings 5. Newcastle It's been another typically frantic transfer window for Newcastle, despite speculation around the club's potential takeover. Valentino Lazaro has arrived from Inter, Nabil Bentaleb brings plenty of promise despite past discipline issues, while Danny Rose is a perfect replacement after Jetro Willems' season-ending injury.
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Transfer window power rankings 4. Manchester United It took over six months, but Bruno Fernandes is finally a United player. And, despite all the furore, United will end the month with the player they always wanted. They also managed to recruit a back-up striker by capturing Odion Ighalo on loan.
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Transfer window power rankings 3. Liverpool Jurgen Klopp's side continued their impressive recruitment strategy by activating RB Salzburg's Takumi Minamino's £7.25m release clause before the window had even officially opened. Now, amid all the other clubs pandemonium, they remain sitting happily 19 points clear of their closest challengers.
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Transfer window power rankings 2. West Ham A window of typical panic could, somehow, still end impressively for West Ham. Jarrod Bowen is on his way to London for a medical, while Tomas Soucek and Darren Randolph are both valuable recruits for David Moyes's struggling side.
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Transfer window power rankings 1. Sheffield United The Blades have broken their transfer record to bring in coveted Norwegian international Sander Berge from Genk, while Panagiotis Retsos and Richairo Zivkovic are also set to join. Chris Wilder's side have surpassed all expectations this season, and now they're being rewarded with firm investment.
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Blues manager Frank Lampard, meanwhile, will be hoping the winter break allows forward Tammy Abraham to fully recover from the ankle problem sustained against Arsenal last month.
Antonio Rudiger scored both goals as Chelsea drew 2-2 against Leicester, which left them fourth in the Premier League, four points ahead of Tottenham.
Chelsea are now not back in action again until they host Manchester United on February 17 – and also have both the resumption of their Champions League campaign against Bayern Munich as well as an FA Cup fifth-round tie ahead.
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