Former Chelsea midfielder Loftus-Cheek takes Tonali’s No. 8 shirt at AC Milan

MILAN (AP) – Inspired by Kaka, anxious to affix up with former Chelsea teammate Fikayo Tomori and able to deliver his box-to-box play to Italy, Ruben Loftus-Cheek is wanting ahead to his debut for AC Milan on the San Siro.

The English midfielder just lately signed a four-year cope with Milan following a switch from Chelsea that was reportedly value 16 million euros ($17.5 million).

“I was at Chelsea for 20 years of my life. This is a special time for me to finally break away from the club, start a new chapter in my life,” Loftus-Cheek mentioned in a video posted on Milan’s web site Tuesday.

Having arising by means of Chelsea’s youth system, Loftus-Cheek performed seven seasons for the Blues with 155 appearances and 13 targets. He received two Premier League titles with Chelsea, a Club World Cup, a European Super Cup and a League Cup. He additionally had mortgage spells at Crystal Palace and Fulham.

He performed with Tomori at Chelsea’s academy.

“I’ve spoken to him a lot the past month, couple of months even, especially when things came out in the press and he was asking me if I was coming,” Loftus-Cheek mentioned. “He said, ‘If you come you’ll feel how big the club is and the history of the club and what it means to play for AC Milan.’ And I was always tempted to come.”

At 6-foot-3 (1.91 meters), Loftus-Cheek combines a bodily presence with a mixture of varied abilities.

“I’m accustomed to a lot of positions in my career. Different formations require me to play different positions, and I’ve been comfortable with that,” he mentioned. “But I feel like my best is, where I can impact the game the most, is in the midfield, in a box-to-box position where I can get up and score goals and get back and defend and bring my physicality. And that’s what I really want to do in this league.”

Loftus-Cheek fills a gap in Milan’s midfield that was created when Sandro Tonali left for Newcastle. He will put on Tonali’s No. 8 shirt with the Rossoneri. His closest expertise to Serie A got here when he performed underneath Italian coaches Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea.

The 27-year-old grew up admiring Kaka at Milan.

“He was just an incredible runner with the ball and that’s one of my strengths in the game – when I can open up and run with the ball and Kaka was one of the best of that,” Loftus-Cheek mentioned.

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