Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek named in the 55-man World Cup provisional squad for England
According to the Athletic (subscription required), Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek is named in the 55-man England provisional squad for the World Cup.
The midfielder, who was part of the nation’s last World Cup campaign in Russia back in 2018, hasn’t featured on the international stage since November that year.
The 26-year-old has been one of the key players in the Chelsea squad this season though, starting 10 of the 12 league matches so far. Injury to regular starter N’Golo Kante did help him to get more minutes than maybe initially envisaged.
As per the Evening Standard, there hasn’t been an extensive announcement featuring every player selected in the 55-man squad. This was only designed to keep the players on their toes, both playing and logistics-wise, ahead of the showpiece event in Qatar.
It is revealed that Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah is also in this provisional squad, while Reece James is unlikely to make the cut barring a miraculous recovery from his knee injury.
The final 26-man squad will be named on November 10 by Gareth Southgate. Both Chalobah and Loftus-Cheek would be hoping that they make the cut in that and represent their nation in the World Cup.
Irrespective of what happens in the selection, Loftus-Cheek would be right to focus on playing well for Chelsea and gaining consistency. It is his first season at Stamford Bridge in which he is starting games on a regular basis and is one of the first names on the team sheet.
After the dead rubber against Dinamo Zagreb, the Blues have two important league games against Arsenal and Newcastle United coming up. Knowing that both the opponents are currently in the top four, a lot would ride on these games.
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There is an EFL Cup tie against Manchester City sandwiched as well. Loftus-Cheek would hope to play a big part in these encounters.