In England’s opening World Cup match in June of last year, the Three Lions were labouring to a draw with Tunisia with 10 minutes to play. The game was changed that day by the introduction of Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Coming on for Dele Alli in the 80th minute with the score at 1-1, Loftus-Cheek was everything England needed. Powerful, direct and fast, he stretched what was up to that point an increasingly comfortable Tunisian defence.
Though he was not involved in the eventual winner, his performance vindicated Gareth Southgate’s choice to select him for the tournament despite spending the preceding season loaned out by Chelsea.
Though he was not always in the side, 2018/19 was very much a coming of age for Loftus-Cheek at his boyhood club. The 23-year-old played 24 league games and 11 in the Europa League before being cruelly robbed of the chance to play in the Blues’ final victory over Arsenal.
He has remained sidelined since then, but is reportedly closing in a return to action, however he faces an immediate battle to force his way into the starting XI, with the likes of Jorginho, Mason Mount and Mateo Kovacic impressing in recent weeks while the ever consistent N’Golo Kante has shown glimpses of his quality between injuries of his own.
All of those players possess a very different skillset to Loftus-Cheek. Not one of them can match his physicality and brute force, while only Mount has regularly shown a similar eye for goal.
Chelsea do have another midfielder cut from a similar cloth, but Ross Barkley has been in wretched form both on and off the football pitch, despite putting in some impressive performances for England.
And here lies the biggest mountain Ruben Loftus-Cheek will need to climb. He was a regular in 2018, playing eight times in addition to two caps he won in 2017, but England’s midfield is a different proposition altogether as the European Championships approach.
Loftus-Cheek was joined in the World Cup squad by fellow midfielders Fabian Delph, Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard and Eric Dier. Of those, only Jordan Henderson was called up for England’s most recent international break.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Harry Winks, Declan Rice, Mason Mount and James Maddison occupied England’s midfield most recently, while the likes of James Ward-Prowse and Ross Barkley have also been called up in the last 12 months.
With Dele Alli returning to form and Maddison and Mount among the most exciting creative midfielders in the Premier League this season to date (not to mention Jack Grealish, don’t rule him out), Loftus-Cheek’s path back to the national side looks frighteningly difficult.
This is arguably the greatest midfield depth England have ever had. The problem lies in picking a first choice three to play in Gareth Southgate’s favoured 4-3-3, as no midfielders have firmly established themselves yet. Chelsea’s forgotten man may just provide the midfield balance England have been craving, but he faces a hell of a battle to get there.
