AC Milan ‘hoping to convince’ Ruben Loftus-Cheek to join them — report

Ruben Loftus-Cheek has become a bit of an afterthought in the second half of the season, after heavy involvement the previous 18 months, and the 27-year-old versatile midfielder could very well be part of the summer cull at Chelsea.

According to the Evening Standard, AC Milan are interested, but would need RLC to take a paycut. That’s emblematic of one of the major difficulties Chelsea face in trimming the bloated and highly paid squad down to manageable size. Few teams pay as well as we do, and even fewer are willing to spend just willy-nilly at whatever latest impulse they might be feeling.

The report adds that Ruben would be reluctant to leave his boyhood club, where he did eventually manage to establish himself in the first-team despite a very long pathway from the Academy fraught with injuries, loans, and managerial changes. But he has only one year left on his contract, and perhaps the allure of more consistent playing time elsewhere will be appealing.