Ruben Loftus-Cheek is focused on prolonging his Chelsea career past this season, despite the club’s plan to bring Conor Gallagher back from his season-long loan at Crystal Palace.

Loftus-Cheek scored his first Chelsea goal for almost three years to set the club on their way to FA Cup semi-final success against Palace, for whom Gallagher was unable to play against his parent club.

Chelsea’s plan to bring Gallagher back to compete for a place at Stamford Bridge next season had been expected to impact Loftus-Cheek’s future, but the 26-year-old is not preparing himself for a summer move away. 

Instead, Loftus-Cheek is prioritising trying to finish the season as strongly as possible and remains happy at Chelsea. It is understood he is also optimistic about the future with two years remaining on his contract at the end of this season.

The sanctions placed on Roman Abramovich and the process to sell the club have stalled all contract talks and discussions over players’ futures, with the next owners of Chelsea faced with a number of big decisions.

But Tuchel is keen to bring Gallagher back and give him the chance to compete for a place in his team, following a season in which he has been crucial for Palace and earned a place in the England squad. One of the members of Todd Boehly’s bid to buy the club, Barbara Charone, told Telegraph Sport in an interview that she would like to see Gallagaher given an opportunity at Chelsea next term.

Maurizio Sarri, Loftus-Cheek’s former Chelsea manager, has been linked with a bid to try to take the player to Lazio, but such a move is rated as being highly unlikely.

Lazio would not be able to afford to pay Loftus-Cheek’s wages, which are currently worth over £100,000-a-week, while the player’s preference is likely to be to remain at Chelsea and continue to fight for his place.

Having returned from a loan spell at Fulham, Loftus-Cheek has made 32 Chelsea appearances this season and started in the semi-final second-leg against Real Madrid before stepping off the bench, ahead of N’Golo Kanté, to replace Mateo Kovacic in the 26th minute against Palace at Wembley. Kovacic’s injury may provide him with an opportunity to start against Arsenal on Wednesday night.

Tuchel had been concerned that Loftus-Cheek had not made a bigger impact at Fulham during his loan, but has been impressed with his recent performances.

Following Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final success, Tuchel said: “He was excellent, and was also very strong in the matches against Southampton and Real Madrid.

“I think he’s been hiding his talent and his potential for a long time in his career. He’s capable of producing performances that everybody sees on the pitch, but he’s also capable of producing performances that hides all of his quality.

“[The way he played on Sunday] This is the way to go and he needs to take it step by step so that he continues to grow in confidence.”

Chelsea have question marks over the futures of a number of their midfielders. Kanté and Jorginho will only have a year left on their contracts at the end of the season, along with Ross Barkley who the club will look to sell. 

Billy Gilmour, who has spent the season on loan at Norwich City, has one more year remaining on his Chelsea contract, but it is unclear whether or not the club have the option to extend it by a further 12 months.

Like Loftus-Cheek, Mason Mount, who also scored against Palace in Sunday’s semi-final, will have two years left on his contract at the end of the season and any new owner is likely to want to tie Mount down to a longer deal.

Chelsea’s plans for next season will start to become clearer once a preferred buyer for the club is confirmed from the three groups, fronted by Boehly, Sir Martin Broughton and Stephen Pagliuca, who submitted improved and binding offers last Thursday.

Pagliuca already owns 55 per cent of Atalanta, which the Italian club’s chief executive Luca Percassi believes could prove to be beneficial for all parties if his group comes out on top in the race to buy Chelsea.

Despite the fact Pagliuca would have to divest some of his Atalanta shares to comply with Uefa competition rules if he were successful, Percassi said: “We hope that Pagliuca will be able to take Chelsea, we would have enormous advantages.”