Ruben Ira Loftus-Cheek (born 23 January 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Serie A club AC Milan.

[14] He played his first Premier League match on 31 January 2015, coming on for Oscar in added time at the end of a 1–1 home draw against Manchester City.

[15] On 3 February, Loftus-Cheek was promoted into José Mourinho's first-team squad alongside fellow teenager Izzy Brown.

[20] On 29 August 2015, Loftus-Cheek made his first appearance coming off the bench against Crystal Palace as Chelsea suffered their first home defeat of the season.

[32] Following some impressive form, Loftus-Cheek was rewarded with a senior call-up by manager Gareth Southgate to the England squad for their fixtures against Germany and Brazil in November 2017.

[37] On 5 May, Loftus-Cheek scored the opener against Watford in a 3–0 home win that eventually secured Champions League football for the following season.

[38] In the next match, the second leg of the Europa League semi-final at home to Eintracht Frankfurt, he scored in a 1–1 draw, with Chelsea prevailing 4–3 on penalties.

[48] On 30 June 2023, Loftus-Cheek joined Serie A club AC Milan, signing a contract until 2027 after 19 years as a Chelsea player.

[52] On 15 February 2024, Loftus-Cheek scored twice for AC Milan in a 3–0 win at home against Rennes in the Europa League knockout round play-offs.

[33] Following his first senior call-up, he went onto make his England debut during their friendly fixture against Germany, in which he featured for the full 90 minutes, winning man of the match after an impressive performance in the 0–0 draw.

[56] After his first-team debut, Barney Ronay of The Guardian described Loftus-Cheek as an "intriguing" player of "long-striding grace" saying that with his "shielding, covering, deep-playmaking presence with a calmness in possession and a naturally telescopic reach" he would be a good fit for the senior England national team.

Liam Twomey of FourFourTwo described Loftus-Cheek as "an imposing box-to-box midfielder who combines a muscular 6ft 3in frame that enables him to dominate physically with startlingly polished technique and composure," also noting that "[h]e rarely makes a bad decision on the ball," and labelling him a "rare blend of natural physique and refined skill," whom he likened to Paul Pogba.

[60] At Milan, managed by Stefano Pioli in his first season, Loftus-Cheek returned to playing in his preferred attacking role; as the team tended to switch back and forth between 4–3–3 and 4–2–3–1 formations, depending on whether they are in possession or not, Loftus-Cheek played as a mezzala, which is a box-to-box in Italian football terminology, and a trequartista, an attacking midfielder behind the main striker.