Midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek has claimed that he felt like ‘a caged animal’ at Chelsea as he explained why the move to AC
Milan came at the right time.
Loftus-Cheek was signing number three of eight for Milan in what has been a very busy summer so far, and he impressed in preseason to the extent
that he even scored a hat-trick in the penultimate friendly.
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.
Now, Loftus-Cheek has done an interview with The Times in which he shed some light on why it was such an easy call to uproot from the place he has
called home for so long and try a new adventure in Italy.
“I always contemplated moving. This past season, coming towards the end, it felt like the right time to move on. I was starting to feel really good in
my body and my injuries had cleared up,” he said.
“After the past two seasons feeling really good and not playing in the position you want to play, I was feeling like a caged animal. I just want to be free
now to play, and I feel like it was the right time to move on. Change is always difficult but sometimes it might be the best thing.”
Loftus-Cheek also admitted that he spoke to Fikayo Tomori about what life was like in Serie A, given that he is a fellow Cobham graduate who made
the switch over two years ago.
“I couldn’t tell him I was speaking to Milan, though. I was kind of asking him what it was like and he said, ‘Why are you asking me this?’ I spoke to
Fik a lot and when the move got closer I told him I might be going, it’s happening.
“He has been very good with me here. Not knowing the language, he has translated a lot and let me know how things work. He’s helped me settle in.”
The 27-year-old had experience of playing at San Siro already in fact, given he came with Chelsea in the Champions League group stages in October
of last year.
“Jorginho was waiting to take a penalty and you could hear these whistles that were so loud it was unbelievable. You’re thinking, imagine playing
with that kind of support but it’s behind you. It’s going to be incredible. I’m really looking forward to playing there.”
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Alessandro Costacurta has urged the AC Milan management to trust the forwards they have at their disposal rather than signing
another striker for the sake of it.
There are some doubts about how Milan stack up in the No.9 position going into the new season. Olivier Giroud will turn 37, Noah Okafor is perhaps
not a like-for-like deputy, Divock Origi has been ousted and Lorenzo Colombo wants to go out on loan.
For this reason, there has been a number of reports linking the Rossoneri with a move for another striker such as Moise Kean from Juventus,
Armando Broja from Chelsea or Hugo Ekitike from Chelsea.
One man who thinks that the management shouldn’t be too hasty is Costacurta, as the former defender spoke during a segment on Sky last night
(via Radio Rossonera) in which he was asked about whether his former team need a striker.
The host Alessandro Bonan asked: “Why doesn’t Milan bet on a young man like Colombo? Or why not carve out the role of deputy Giroud for him?”
The reply from Costacurta: “If Milan don’t bet definitively on him there will obviously be some reason. It may be that he is not considered good
enough. Today I saw Italy-Switzerland 1-1 again, and I studied Okafor’s movements. But are we sure that he can’t do well?
“Why, is there anyone who even doubts that he can play as a centre-forward? I say this because I want to open a controversial discussion, is it
possible? I saw that match: guys, this is a very strong player, yes, a centre-forward.
“Also because he is not small, let’s try asking Bonucci and Acerbi, who were central defenders in that match. If we want to be honest he is more of a
centre-forward than Kean.”
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