Loftus-Cheek and Quansah added to England squad

Seven years after his last cap, Ruben Loftus-Cheek was named in England’s squad for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia.

The AC Milan midfielder has 10 England caps, the last of which came when he started for United States in November 2018.

During his time in charge of Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel, England’s manager, managed the 29-year-old.

After Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton suffered a broken foot, Bayer Leverkusen center-back Jarell Quansah has also been called up.

In his team’s 3-0 win at Aston Villa on Sunday, Wharton picked up the groin injury.

Quansah, 22, joined the German club from Liverpool in a £35 million deal last month and was a member of the England side that won the European Under-21 Championship in June.

He has yet to earn his first senior cap, but he was also a member of Tuchel’s first England team in March when he faced Albania and Latvia in the World Cup qualifiers.

Between the Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital eras, there was a record-breaking churn of players at Chelsea.

He became a significant player at Stamford Bridge as the first player to successfully enter the now-restored Cobham academy under Abramovich’s leadership.

Under Tuchel, Loftus-Cheek’s best years were those that allowed him to realize his potential in a player he had never seen before, in contrast to Germany’s Michael Ballack.

However, things turned out differently after Loftus-Cheek endured a disorganized 2022-23 season and failed to win at Chelsea until Tuchel was fired by the new owners.

After a promising first season at AC Milan, Loftus-Cheek’s second was a “disaster,” according to Italian football journalist Daniele Verri.

He was always harmed, he said. He played until he got hurt at the beginning of December, and then essentially reconnected at the end of April. His appendix was removed because he struggled with muscular issues throughout the season.

He never had continuity because he was out all the time, the club was going through a terrible season with managerial changes, and more importantly, he never had continuity.

He has a strong season going, and he scored in Lecce over the weekend. He hasn’t shown the best of himself yet, but he is still a player who needs to be seen in Italy.

Let’s see if Massimiliano Allegri, the manager, is correct when he says he and Youssouf Fofana have 15 goals in mind for the team.