Ruben Loftus-Cheek finally reaches 100 Chelsea first-team appearances

This one flew under the radar a bit, both because of the result itself and, to a lesser extent, because it’s no longer as unique as it might have been just a few years ago, but Ruben Loftus-Cheek made his 100th senior appearance for the club on Wednesday, in the 2-0 win over Spurs in the first leg of the League Cup semifinal.

Loftus-Cheek is the fifth Academy graduate in the last two decades to reach this milestone, joining Andreas Christensen (now on 146), Mason Mount (now on 134), Callum Hudson-Odoi (now on 118), and Reece James (now on 107). We didn’t even register James getting to this milestone. Sorry, Reecey!

RLC might be the last one for a while however, as the next highest at the moment* are Billy Gilmour (22), Trevoh Chalobah (20), and Ethan Ampadu (12), though his achievement is noteworthy just for the sheer perseverance it has taken to get here — Ruben’s the oldest of any of the players mentioned thus far, beating even Christensen by a few months. In fact, the 25-year-old looked on track to be perhaps the first to reach 100 appearances since John Terry did in 2002, but injuries have taken their highly unfair toll.

*(Tammy Abraham is on 82, in case he ever comes back)

In any case, Ruben’s back fit and in the squad this season and back on track in a way, with 18 appearances, already the second most he’s made in a season for Chelsea. Congrats on 100; here’s to the next 100!