Ruben Loftus-Cheek: An Italian Renaissance

Chelsea’s huge spending spree in the summer may have stolen the headlines but one of the more intriguing transfers was the sale of a homegrown talent.

Milan signed Ruben Loftus-Cheek with the midfielder joining former Chelsea colleagues Fikayo Tomori, Olivier Giroud and Christian Pulisic at the Rossoneri.

Since his debut almost a decade ago, Ruben Loftus-Cheek has struggled to cement a consistent starting spot at Stamford Bridge.

The midfielder’s talent has never been in-doubt, but injuries have appeared every time he has started to gain momentum.

Five years ago, Loftus-Cheek was establishing himself for club and country, a successful loan spell for Crystal Palace saw him travel to Russia for the 2018 World Cup. He was regularly Gareth Southgate’s first port of call from the bench as they marched to an unexpected semi-final.

That may have been Loftus-Cheek’s chance to move from Chelsea to gain consistent starts as he had done at Palace. It is the dilemma that every Chelsea youngster faces on a yearly basis, to stay and compete or move on for first team opportunities. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Injuries, numerous manager changes and competition in midfield has resulted in only 54 Premier League starts for Chelsea in five seasons, although he did start 21 times for Fulham during a loan spell in 2020/21.

In nine seasons he has only reached 20 starts in a Premier League campaign twice, both times on loan away from Chelsea at Palace and Fulham respectively.

Milan’s transfer approach in 2023 was very un-Italian with numerous stars targeted that had not played in Serie A before.

Loftus-Cheek and Pulisic were signed alongside a plethora of exciting young talent including, Tijjani Reijnders, Samuel Chukwueze, Yunus Musah and Noah Okafor.

The weekends humiliating 5-1 defeat to city rivals Inter overshadowed what had been a fantastic start to the season for Milan.

The Rossoneri had won their first three games, including tough away ties at Bologna and Roma, with Loftus-Cheek starting every game in a midfield three.

After a quiet first match against Bologna, the 27-year-old has shown signs of getting back to his best. It’s a story that stats don’t tell, an in-form Loftus-Cheek is a joy to watch.

A mix of pace and power combined with a languid running style that makes him appear to glide over the grass in complete control of the ball.

Away at Jose Mourinho’s Roma, he dominated in midfield, progressing the ball forward leaving Roma’s midfield scratching their head for answers. In the end a Tomori red-card led to Milan manager, Stefano Pioli, changing formation with Loftus-Cheek taken off in the 66^th minute with a yellow card to his name.

The fact that Pioli has been able to get the Englishman purring this early in the season bodes well for the future. In the past it is his body that has let him down, but the slower tempo of Serie A may help, as well as having a Milan physio department that has helped some of the greats of Italian football play deep into their thirties.

Against Roma, he came up against a player who faced the same issues in his career. Chris Smalling joined Roma from Manchester United in 2019, initially on loan before signing permanently.

In nine years of Premier League football, Smalling only started more than 20 games in three of those seasons. Since joining Roma, he has done so in three of the four seasons he has been there, starting 31 games last year.

Here’s hoping Loftus-Cheek can find the same consistency in fitness and form in Serie A.

An in-form Loftus-Cheek is an artist, his work will be well placed amongst the galleries of Milan.