Ruben Loftus-Cheek

Ruben Loftus-Cheek is an English International footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Premier League club Chelsea and the English national team.

Loftus-Cheek joined Chelsea at the age of eight. He impressed at the beginning of the 2011–12 season before picking up a hip injury, from which he recovered by the end of the season to make a substitute appearance in the 2012 FA Youth Cup final.

After his first-team debut, Barney Ronay of The Guardian described Loftus-Cheek as an "intriguing" player of "long-striding grace" saying that with his "shielding, covering, deep-playmaking presence with a calmness in possession and a naturally telescopic reach" he would be a good fit for the senior England national team. 

Loftus-Cheek was compared to Germany great Michael Ballack by former Chelsea and England manager Glenn Hoddle, who said that: "He reminds me of Ballack – physically and the way he plays", and went on to say: "He gets in the box and he moves well off the ball." 

Following his first Premier League start of the 2015–16 season, Loftus-Cheek's Chelsea manager, José Mourinho, commented "He [Loftus-Cheek] is brilliant with the ball. He doesn't look 19 – he looks solid, stable, and mature. But without the ball, he doesn't look as good tactically."

Liam Twomey of FourFourTwo described Loftus-Cheek as "an imposing box-to-box midfielder who combines a muscular 6ft 3in frame that enables him to dominate physically with startlingly polished technique and composure," also noting that "[h]e rarely makes a bad decision on the ball," and labelling him a "rare blend of natural physique and refined skill," whom he likened to Paul Pogba.

Throughout his career, Loftus-Cheek has been playing either as a central or attacking midfielder, but former Chelsea manager Antonio Conte stated that he sees Loftus-Cheek with the potential of a striker since he has "good technique, good personality and he is good one vs one.