A former Chelsea and England midfielder looks likely to be on the transfer market this summer - but who will sign him?
Remember Ruben Loftus-Cheek? You probably do, just about. It feels like an eternity since he last played in the Premier League, although it is – somehow – less than two years since he moved from Chelsea to AC Milan. In that time, a former England international seems to have become something of a forgotten man.
Sometimes, when first-rate English players ply their trade overseas, their success or failure generates a healthy volume of column inches. But Loftus-Cheek isn’t Gazza, it would seem, or even Chris Smalling apparently, and strangely little has been said of a spell in Serie A which could be coming to a close quite soon.
Reports from Italy over recent weeks suggest that Milan are weighing up Loftus-Cheek’s future despite the fact that he had a thoroughly impressive first season at the San Siro, and his performances over the coming weeks may determine whether he is kept or sold this summer – and according to a new story from Calciomercato, there are no fewer than four Premier League sides monitoring the situation.
So how has Loftus-Cheek been getting on in Italy? Which teams supposedly want to sign him should Sérgio Conceição decide to move him on? And can he still do a job in the Premier League – or perhaps even for England?
The four clubs that want to sign former Chelsea man Ruben Loftus-Cheek - and why
Let’s start with the four teams supposedly keen on signing Loftus-Cheek should Milan choose to move on: Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and Fulham.
It’s a relatively disparate group of teams, albeit all clubs that both need extra resources or upgrades in midfield and teams who play with relatively high-intensity styles, not that many teams in the Premier League prefer to sit back and take the pace off the game. It’s also notable that they’re all teams in the top half of the Premier League, at the time of writing at least, and all teams with realistic pretensions of competing for European placings over the next couple of seasons.
There was, perhaps, a perception that all the injuries that Loftus-Cheek had endured had cost him his prime years, and that he was simply not the player he had promised to be. And while all those strains and tears and knocks certainly did some damage (Chelsea would scarcely have loaned him out twice if he was at full strength), there’s a reason that Milan wanted him in 2023, and a reason that some strong sides seemingly want him now.
Granted, there’s also a reason that Chelsea were happy to accept a fee starting at just €15m (£12.5m) for a player in what should be his best years – but Loftus-Cheek has proven at Milan that he still has plenty of quality in his legs. The 29-year-old helped to propel Milan towards a second-place finish while setting high benchmark stats for getting possession forward both with the ball at his feet and when looking for space towards the final third. Few midfielders in Serie A were better at moving possession forward at speed and he did plenty of good work off the ball.
The hard yards were there, the experience was evident and he was a dynamic, physical presence despite all those well-documented fitness struggles – and it’s worth remembering that he had been fit far more often than not over his last two seasons at Chelsea, making 73 appearances in two years despite seldom being one of the first names on the team sheet.
Ultimately, Loftus-Cheek made 40 appearances for AC Milan in the 2023/24 season, scored 10 goals and provided a persistent and energetic attacking threat. It looked like a move which had given him a new lease of life. Until he got injured again.
Why AC Milan may sell Loftus-Cheek – and the club that should sign him
Loftus-Cheek’s second season in Milan started off well enough, but his impact was noticeably lessened, and he didn’t score a singe goal before an adductor injury in December took him off of the team sheet entirely.
Loftus-Cheek went from the starting XI to the bench to the treatment room over the course of around six weeks, and is only just now getting back towards full fitness. Since he last played, Milan have changed manager, replacing Paulo Fonseca with Conceição on the penultimate day of 2024 – and how the new broom feels about Loftus-Cheek will determine his future.
Calciomercato claim that Conceição is “crazy” about Loftus-Cheek, but until he’s played under him we won’t know whether he can recapture the spark of his first season or whether he will prove to be as effective under the new coach’s tactical scheme. Certainly Loftus-Cheek could do with rediscovering his scoring touch.
This season has demonstrated that the version of Loftus-Cheek that’s lodged in the memories of most Premier League supporters – of a solid, hard-grafting midfielder who spends too much time in rehab from yet another injury – hasn’t disappeared entirely in Italy, just as last season proved that the dynamic box-to-box man who forced his way into England’s 2018 World Cup squad is still in there. Any club making a bid this summer will need to be convinced that they know which player they’re getting.
It's worth noting that based on the stats, at least, Loftus-Cheek’s experience has helped him to improve in key areas over the past few seasons regardless of the injury interruptions. Even while enjoying a fine season in front of goal in 2023/24, Loftus-Cheek also put up his best defensive stats, forcing more turnovers and making more tackles than ever before.
Still, he’s not a true holding midfielder and teams that play double pivots will likely look elsewhere. Fulham, under Marco Silva, feel like an odd fit despite his past associations with the club, but a team like Newcastle United, whose midfield has a gung-ho, end-to-end approach to football under Eddie Howe, seems like a good match.
If fit and firing, Loftus-Cheek is a fine dribbler with good movement, boundless energy and the ability to impact all three thirds of the pitch, and there is evidence that he continues to improve regardless of the stop-start nature of his career.
Maybe he would only be a rotational option for a team like Newcastle who are battling for the Champions League, but there is a reason he was deemed good enough to be a regular starter for the second-best side in Serie A last season. Loftus-Cheek still has plenty to offer the right club – and the opportunity to take advantage of that could be coming around in just a couple of months.
Related topics:AC MilanNottingham ForestAston VillaFulham
Comment Guidelines
National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.