If there were to be a midseason award for signing of the summer, Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s name would be right up there among the contenders at AC Milan.
This morning’s edition of Corriere dello Sport (via MilanNews) recall that Loftus-Cheek chose Milan to relaunch himself after a period of stagnation at Chelsea, where he came through the academy.
He had many physical problems in England and he also suffered from some at Milan, but when he was available he always looked like one of the players capable of making a difference.
With the brace he scored against Bologna on Sunday, Loftus-Cheek moved on five goals in the league which makes him the third-best midfielder in terms of number of goals in Serie A.
In front of him, curiously, there are two former Rossoneri players: Hakan Calhanoglu, who however scored several penalties, and Giacomo Bonaventura.
Loftus-Cheek’s eye for goal was something that Pioli tried to extract but he found the net only once before the end of 2023. From the beginning of 2024 onwards he shifted into another gear, with four goals in his last four games.
Credit also goes to his position on the pitch, which allows him to be closer to the goal and to make runs into the box at the right times. It is no coincidence his goals arrived in a very similar way, with a team-mate finding him inside the area for a first-time finish.
The only slightly different goal was the second against Bologna in which he took advantage of his extraordinary physicality, another element that could lead him to be even more present in front of goal.
In the position of attacking midfielder – therefore acting as the link between midfield and attack – Loftus-Cheek has improved the Rossoneri’s attacking variety.
