Ruben Loftus-Cheek has been in fantastic goalscoring form so far in 2024, and head coach Stefano Pioli named a player from his Lazio days that he reminds him of.
Calciomercato.com recall how the midfield from last season of Sandro Tonali, Rade Krunic, Ismael Bennacer and Tommaso Pobega amassed a combined nine goals in 40 appearances. After his brace last nice, Loftus-Cheek is on seven goals on his own.
The constant discomfort linked to a groin pain that greatly affected him between last October and November in terms of consistency of performances and above all ease of running – the aspect that has always most distinguished his way of interpreting football – seem today a distant memory.
Milinkovic-Savic, Franck Kessie and Adrien Rabiot are the last three midfielders in Serie A to reach double figures considering all competitions. The latter got 11 last year, while the Ivorian got 14 in 2020-21 and the ex-Lazio man got the same in 2017-18.
Kessie though was one of the designated penalty takers, but he was also a different player to Loftus-Cheek who will probably never have the ability to be a blocker in front of the defence in the non-possession phase.
However, he is a perhaps less technical but physically more dominant version of Milinkovic-Savic, a tactical weapon that Pioli has learned to discover over the months and also a versatile option as a No.8 or a No.10.
With six goals in his last eight official matches, RLC is probably in his best state since 2018-19 when Maurizio Sarri made him a cornerstone of his Chelsea side.
