AC Milan are about to complete the signing of Ruben Loftus-Cheek from Chelsea as per widespread reports, so we spoke to Simon Johnson from The Athletic about what to expect from the midfielder.
Milan need to bolster their midfield given the imminent sale of Sandro Tonali and the signing of Loftus-Cheek is a good start for the Rossoneri, even if a couple more are needed to complete the department.
In any case, the Englishman should be the first signing of the summer. He underwent his medical today, and Loftus-Cheek himself is ‘very happy’ about the move, a source close to the matter has confirmed to us.
We spoke to Simon Johnson – who is Chelsea’s writer and reporter for The Athletic – about the kind of player that Loftus-Cheek is as well as getting an insight into his character.
Loftus-Cheek has been with Chelsea’s academy since he was 8. Is this summer the right time to move on and how will his time with Chelsea be remembered?
“I think it is. I think it’s good for him to have a fresh challenge and to perhaps go to a club that genuinely sees him as a key part of what they are trying to do rather than being this bit-part figure which is what he’s become at Chelsea.
“He’s become someone to fill in a hole somewhere. He’s been played in a variety of positions in the last season or two. He’s played at right wing-back, as a defensive midfielder, he’s even been up front which was a real random moment.
“It just feels like Ruben has never been a first choice at Chelsea throughout his career. There’s also a Chelsea element to this, it’s not just Ruben’s decision. They want to shift players on, they want to lower the squad number, Lower the wage bill.
“Ruben at 27 – it scares me to think he’s now 27 – he’s on £150k per week contract. For what Chelsea have been getting from him, you could question whether that’s the direction they want to go, to keep him.
“The owners have made it pretty clear that if players get to within a year or two left on their deal they will look to sell them if they’re not going to stay which is understandable in a business sense because you don’t want to lose players for nothing.
“They are restructuring the midfield. They’ve got youngsters coming in: a very underused player like Chukwuemeka, I don’t know if he’ll be staying or going on loan this summer but he didn’t play much last season.
“They’ve got Andrey Santos who was signed and loaned back to Vasco de Gama and they are looking at signing Caicedo, and we’ve already seen Jorginho and Kovacic go.
“How will he be remembered? He’s very popular Ruben, and there’s good reason why. One is that he’s an academy graduation; there’s been a lot of talk about Ruben since he was a kid as being the real deal.
“There’s a lot of sympathy for him because he’s only shown flashes of his potential, mainly because of the serious Achilles injury he suffered in 2019.
“Ruben had had a really good season under Sarri, looked really good in the Europa League and played a real prominent role and was one of the sparks that helped Chelsea get to that final.
“Then he suffered an awful injury on a terrible pitch that Chelsea were playing on in that friendly and it really hindered his Chelsea career. He was out for over a year, and by the time he came back it was Covid which was another delay, and then Lampard was coach and it was decided he should go on loan to Fulham.
“He went to Fulham but they were poor that year and got relegated so he was playing in a struggling side, so by the time he got back to Chelsea after that loan spell quite a few years had gone by where his career had sort of stagnated.
“It’s very competitive to get into the Chelsea team. He showed some flashes but never consistently enough to become a real starter unfortunately. He’s a really lovely bloke, one of the most relaxed people you could ever wish to meet, but you could almost say that’s been to his detriment.
“People have always wanted more from him. Tuchel said after a really good game against Tottenham last season that he was brilliant, awesome, but the challenge is for him to keep doing it and not wait another five games to do it again. I think that’s a fair summary of Ruben’s Chelsea career overall.”
What kind of a season has he had? He played very well against Milan in the Champions League…
“In some ways it’s a weird one for Ruben because he actually played quite a lot, perhaps more than he may have expected. He made 32 appearances, which is not amazing but it’s not too bad either in a team that was very chop and change.
“The team was never settled, so while 32 appearances seems like nothing to write home about if you go through the squad Kovacic played 37 which is five times more than Loftus-Cheek, Koulibaly the same amount.
“Gallagher is someone he was up against for the fringe role. He played 45 times, but a lot of those were substitute appearances. Chelsea have a squad of over 30 players, so to play 32 times is a respectable amount.
“Twenty-five of those appearances were in the Premier League so he only sat out 13 games and some of those were injury-related. I think he played pretty well. You wouldn’t go overboard and say it was an 8-9/10 season but you could say he had a solid 7/10 season.
“Considering he didn’t play in a consistent position, I think he had a positive season individually but obviously for the team and the club it was a disaster.
“Will he be sorry to leave? He’s been there since he was a kid so there’s going to be a huge emotional impact there, but I think he will be excited for a new challenge and to join a club that really wants him.
“That has always been a question in his mind has ‘Do Chelsea really want me?’ Because even with the new owners they say they want academy talent but then go off and sign somebody else. It’s a common theme that you almost appreciate players from other clubs more than those within your own walls.
“Going to AC Milan… he’ll know Giroud and Tomori so it’s an easier way of settling in when you’ve got two friends already in the building. As much as Ruben can be excited – because he is one of the most chilled guys you could ever wish to meet – he will be excited for this challenge and joining a massive club in Milan.”
What position is he best in? He seems a box-to-box player but Milan tend to play with two defensive midfielders and an attacking midfielder…
“Whilst he’s had the odd good game at right wing-back – including at the Bernabeu in 2022 where he was amazing, it was Michael Essien-esque – defensively he’s clearly not cut out for that kind of role.
“Whilst he has operated deeper sometimes for Chelsea in midfield I don’t think that’s his best position either. You don’t want him in a defensive midfield position but you want him in a position where he’s got room to run in front of him.
“You don’t want him too far forward either, because he’s like one of those cars that takes a while to get up to 60mph but once they get there they’re really hard to stop. He just surges away and players bounce off him because he’s got this power.
“He suits a 4-3-3, with someone with a more defensive mindset behind him and Ruben having the chance to play in one of the two more advanced midfield roles.
“In the Europe League campaign [when Chelsea won it] he played quite an advanced position which would would work in a 4-2-3-1 as one of the three. One of the questions he needs to answer is the physicality. Can he consistently play 90 minutes after 90 minutes at an intense level?
“That is still a question mark over him. He’s rarely played a full season at the highest level due to a combination of injury issues, selection issues and so on.”
The rumoured fee is €16m up front and €4m in bonuses. Is that good business for both sides?
“I think it is. He only has one year left on his deal so Chelsea have limited negotiating power. It’s not just about the fee its about getting him off the wage bill – £150k a week is a significant saving.
“This is straight profit for Chelsea on the books too because he’s an academy player, so that’s one of the reasons they want to get a deal done early, so it goes on the books for the next accounts. So while it’s not an enormous figure it helps.
“From Milan’s point of view it’s a good price. You’re getting a guy at 27, the old cliche about to hit his peak years, with a point to prove which will spark Ruben.
“He’s an England international and you see the crazy fees clubs pay for England players. People forget that Loftus-Cheek was at the 2018 World Cup as part of the squad that reached the semi-finals, so it’s a good price to get someone that cheap.
“Maybe the pace of Serie A being a bit slower might also benefit him. When he gets up to speed with one of these charging runs so when he gets up to full speed he could make quite an impact in Serie A, I would hope.”
Do you think he will look at the exploits of Tomori and Tammy Abraham as a motivation make the switch?
“For sure. Whilst I don’t know this for a fact, I’d be amazed if there haven’t been communications between these guys who obviously know each other. I’m sure the moment Milan expressed an interest and even before that, like when Tomori won the Scudetto there will have been best wishes because the guys have known each other for years.
“I’m sure he’ll be looking at what they’ve done and thinking I can do the same. It can rejuvenate his career. I would like to see more, there’s more in the tank and there’s more for him to do.
“I wouldn’t accuse him of being in a comfort zone at Chelsea but you saw what happened at Crystal Palace in that loan pre-Achilles injury and how well he played so Palace wanted him to stay. A change of scenery may just give him a spark again to kick on to another level that we just haven’t seen on a consistent basis yet.
“Also with AC Milan we’re not talking about a small club here. He’s got to raise his game for a very demanding fan base that have got legends galore and an amazing history so he can’t be in a comfort zone.”
Have you got an anecdote to share about Ruben?
“I interviewed Ruben just before England played in the World Cup semi-final against Croatia in 2018 and I said ‘Ruben how are you feeling?’ This was England’s first World Cup semi since Italia 90 and you can imagine all the hype around the squad.
“He said ‘Yeah, yeah I’m cool’ as if it was no big deal. I said are you sleeping alright? He said ‘Yep, sleeping sound’. He probably knew he wasn’t going to start but he was going to be on the bench and you’d still be anxious wouldn’t you?
“Someone who was listening in on the conversation said Ruben is the most relaxed, laid back member of the entire squad and this is just him. That really hammered it home for me, ahead of a World Cup semi-final he was talking as if Chelsea were going to play Bournemouth.
“There was no sense of the occasion getting to him. Going to a mighty club like AC Milan with that attitude, there might be a few nerves in there but it won’t get to him. He’s not the kind of guy to be freaked out.
“I don’t want to downplay it, he worked bloody hard to come back from his injury, he had a lot of disappointment and a lot of setbacks, a lot of training on his own, so he also has the work ethic.”
Christian Pulisic and now Callum Hudson-Odoi have been linked. Do you have any info on those and what are there situations?
“Firstly on Pulisic, I think there’s a willingness from both player and club to part ways. Chelsea will be open to offers and I think there is something in the Milan interest, though the question mark will be about transfer fee.
“The sizeable fee Chelsea paid Dortmund for his services which was around £58m in 2019 was paid for by the previous regime, so it’s not quite the same because there’s been a buy-out since then.
“I think there’s an element of any money coming in for these players that they’re trying to get rid of like Ziyech and Mandy etc. who’ve gone to Saudi… it’s good money for them.
“He’s on even more money than Loftus-Cheek so getting him off the wage bill is a plus. I think there’s something in it [the link], whether it happens only time will tell. I don’t think Milan are the only club interested as you would suspect because he is a very high profile US international.
“A bit like Loftus-Cheek he has had his injury problems but he’s also a Champions League winner.
“As for Hudson-Odoi that’s news to me, but one year left on his contract and another player that Chelsea will be listening to offers for. He’s on £120k per week, so he’s another that would be good to get off the wage bill.
“He will look at the situation – he was on loan at Bayer Leverkusen last season and it didn’t go brilliantly for him – and he might look at Mudryk coming in who is the same age but cost an initial £62m and think ‘he plays in my preferred position on the left’ and there’s Nkunku too who can play that position.
“There’s probably a bit of reality where he thinks it’s best for me to try and move on, but as far as Milan being interested I haven’t heard that yet. It wouldn’t surprise me, because you can imagine Ruben saying ‘come join me on the plane’.
“It does take away a bit of the intimidation because obviously you’ve got to learn the language but you still want that comfort of speaking to people you know in the same language.”
Nice insight to what we are getting in Loftus Cheek.
Seems like a good guy.
Hopefully it works out
For sure, everyone wanna be protagonist
Thanks for this article. Nice to hear from someone who has covered Ruben for so long. Excited to see how the move works out.
Great. So he’s neither DM nor an AM. And he’s injury prone? What do we do without that? Pioli has his work cut out for him.
I won’t be surprised if Pioli put him as ST. 🤣
I feel sorry for him as he seems nice lad, but he’s nothing special. Not a DM and not an AM. He rarely played a full season in top tier due to health issues. No upgrade from Tonali. And Reijnders, if he’s soo good as media are portraying him, why is he still in Eredivisie at 24? They are just adding numbers.
Reijnders is a top player and you’ll soon see and to answer your statement, koopmeiners was 24 and with AZ just last season and look at him now.
Look at him what? He plays for Atalanta. And with this kind of signings we’re becoming one too.
“Look at him what? He plays for Atalanta. ”
So you’re saying no good player could ever play in Atalanta? Never has and never will?
Well maybe he’s just a late bloomer right? Let’s see. I do hope he shuts me up.
What am I looking at? A solid player but not a top one? I’m confused what about Koopmeiners I’m supposed to be seeing here….
I stop read this article when i found the first word of injury, but hey maybe he become stronger aftar all that long time bench warming, who knows, of course until we found out later like origi, now we can only say good luck
“I stop read this article when i found the first word of injury”
Everyone gets injured at some point. How you come back from those is what counts.
OK, not everyone. Those who don’t play giving 100% won’t get injured that much. My guess is that CDK never gets serious injuries as he tries to avoid every contact and battle.
like messi and cr7 who rarely got injured
One of the good things is that he won’t have that mental block as CdK did. And he’ll be fielded on the double pivot for sure, and occasionally on the AM position. I can’t see Pioli changing his formation anytime soon.
Y’all do remember the RLC was in the Chelsea lineup that basically played Milan off the park in the Champions League this year, right? Some of these comments are ridiculous. He played against our current (now former) midfield and Chelsea bossed the game with relative ease. I’m not saying he’s the second coming, but he should absolutely be a major contributor with Milan next season.
played againts us before is not a standard for a player is good or not, origi had play led againts us too but he flop last season, what i mean is that we should not carry away and over optimistic with this mercato but of course we should not loose hope and pray for the best of our milan future
its all about consistency.. and like the artical says, he doesnt have it enough..
I hope he stays fit and does well. He has the talent and work rate to be more than what we showed at čelsi.
One thing tho, a lot of teams owned Milan last season and some were from the bottom of the table… food for thought
Best of luck, RLC and welcome!
We all hope that he will ace his debut and have an injury-free season.
Best of luck RLC, welcome to Milan.
From what I’ve seen he have power, speed, and eye for a pass. If he stays injury free and motivated he can be great for us I believe.
Loan ferran torres with a option to buy from barca! They have a lot of wingers and they need space in the salaries! Make use of other problems. I want to work for milan i will negotiate for free! I am a professional negotiator not in football but in banking i will do it for free for milan!!
Fair play bro . .go for it 🙂
A banker who will do it for free. That’s a new one.
Best of luck for RLC. No worry for him being a box to box as his tandem Krunic has become a rock in front of the defense now. Only need one solid back up for them
I’ll read this with a pinch of sarcasm. Nice comment.