Ruben Loftus-Cheek had the world at his feet in the Spring of 2019.
He had just played his first full season with Chelsea, excelling as a starter under Maurizio Sarri, and having gone to the World Cup the year before with Gareth Southgate’s England, looked poised to become a regular for his country too.
That terrible injury he suffered in that friendly in the United States ruined not only his Chelsea career – evident in the fact he’s now on loan at Fulham – but also set back his national team chances massively.
Gareth Southgate has tried to give him a bit of hope though. The Evening Standard have quotes from the England boss where he explains that the move to Fulham to play regularly could stand the midfielder in good stead when the Euro 2021 squads are decided in the Spring:
“Whenever I speak to players about these sorts of situations, first and foremost they’ve got to do what’s right for their career. England is a consequence of that further down the line,” Southgate explained.
“If there is more likelihood of playing football more regularly at Fulham, given the amount of football that Ruben has unfortunately missed with various injuries, then for his own development and his own enjoyment of his career then I think that is key.”
“Then if he can play well, getting back in the England team gets on the radar. But he’s missed nearly 18 months,” Southgate concluded.
Injuries permitting, we can see RLC playing a huge number of games for the Whites, and if he plays like he did for us two seasons ago, there’s no reason he can’t be playing for his country again by next summer.
