Standout excited for move to AC Milan

Loftus-cheek returns to U.S. with his new club

Ruben Loftus-cheek has some good memories of trips to the United States and some not so good.

“My first first-team game with Chelsea was in an endof-season friendly in the U.S. against Manchester City,” Loftuscheek said. “It was in a baseball stadium . ...

It was incredible. It was kind of strange playing in a baseball stadium — the fans are on one side — but I had a good experience.”

That meeting was in 2013 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

In 2019, as a member of Chelsea FC, Loftus-cheek suffered an Achilles injury in a friendly against the New England Revolution. That game came at the end of the club season.

This year, Loftus-cheek is back in the U.S., this time with AC Milan. Loftuscheek, 27, joined AC Milan on a new deal through 2027.

Loftus-cheek had been a mainstay at Chelsea. He started his youth career there in 2004 at just 8 years old. He would make his first-team debut in 2014.

“I was looking for something new, to be honest,” Loftus-cheek said of his move to AC Milan. “Coming toward the end of the season at Chelsea, I’d been there a long time, it seemed like a good moment to move on and experience new things and a new club. I just felt like I had more to give and I wasn’t getting the opportunity to do that. I feel ready and good physically, so I thought it was a good time to move on.

“I wasn’t necessarily looking abroad; I was looking at all options. But AC Milan is a huge club and (AC Milan defender) Fikayo (Tomori) has done well, (AS Roma forward) Tammy (Abraham) has done well in Italy, so it wasn’t something that I would turn down.”

Loftus-cheek and AC Milan kicked off their U.S. tour with a meeting against Real Madrid in the Rose Bowl on Sunday.

Tonight is the second stop as the Rossoneri meet one of their Italian rivals in Juventus. The game will be played at Dignity Health Sports Park (7:30 p.m., ESPN+).

“I know it’s preseason, but when these teams come up against each other, you want to win,” Loftus-cheek said. “You never want to lose, even if the game doesn’t mean too much. It’s a good opportunity for us to test ourselves early on against the best teams and in huge stadiums in the U.S.

“The support from the fans in the U.S. is incredible and to be part of this tour is great for us.”

Loftus-cheek went 70 minutes in Sunday’s 3-2 loss against Real Madrid. The game was played in front of a crowd of 70,814. Christian Pulisic also went 70 minutes for AC Milan, before being replaced by Rafael Leao. Luka Romero scored in his debut.

This will be the first game in the U.S. for Juventus. The opening game against Barcelona, originally scheduled for July 22, was canceled after members of the Barcelona roster came down with a “viral gastroenteritis” that affected a large part of the team.

After this meeting, AC Milan will head to Las Vegas for preparation for a meeting with Barcelona next Tuesday.

Juventus will conclude the tour Wednesday against Real Madrid in Orlando.

Both teams will begin play in Serie A during the first week of Aug. 19-21.