Maurizio Sarri has ruled out Crystal Palace signing Ruben Loftus-Cheek again on loan in January.
Palace, who Chelsea face on Sunday at Stamford Bridge, were hoping to lure the midfielder back to Selhurst Park where he spent the whole of last season.
Loftus-Cheek was struggling to get in the Chelsea team at the start of the campaign, but made four appearances in October and is impressing Sarri with his form.
And when asked by Standard Sport if Loftus-Cheek will be allowed to leave in January, the Chelsea manager said: “Ruben in October played four matches out of five. I think at the moment the situation is not for a loan of course."
The 22-year-old scored the first hat-trick of his career in the 3-1 win over BATE Borisov and also found the net last Sunday in the 4-0 victory at Burnley.
Sarri added: "He has improved, but he needs to improve more from the tactical point of view.
"The rest is good: he has great physical characteristics, he is fast, solid, he has impact, great characteristics.
"Technically he is very good and I think if he wants to play like a midfielder he has to improve in the defensive phase. But the potential is great."
Loftus-Cheek is in contention to face Crystal Palace, but Sarri has yet to decide whether Eden Hazard will start the match.
The Belgium international has returned to training following a back injury, but is lacking sharpness after missing the last two fixtures.
Sarri said: "Eden yesterday had a large part of the training with the team. It may be he will not be ready for 90 minutes yet. It was the first part of training for a few weeks. He might be able to play for 40-45 minutes."
