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.
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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.”
