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In the comeback win over Torino, Ruben Loftus-Cheek played three different roles, and each were equally important.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) recall, against Torino Loftus-Cheek started as a box-to-box midfielder, moved into attack after Rafael Leao’s injury, and ended out wide to the right in the second half when Massimiliano Allegri decided to move Alexis Saelemaekers to the other flank.
It doesn’t stop there, because on Sunday at lunchtime against Sassuolo – with Christian Pulisic’s return to the starting lineup and Leao’s absence – the Englishman could effectively play as a centre-forward, adding a fourth position to his repertoire.
Whether he starts or plays during the match will depend first and foremost on Youssouf Fofana’s condition (the Frenchman is still training individually, but could recover), and then on Allegri’s decisions, as he also has Christopher Nkunku as a candidate.
If the former RB Leipzig player starts, or if Fofana isn’t in midfield, then RLC could be the centre-forward, allowing Pulisic to play as a second striker where he tends to give his best. In all of this, Santiago Gimenez’s recovery remains an unknown too.
A question of size
Pulisic and Nkunku are both short, while the Englishman is a giant, standing over 1.90m tall. So in the air, for example, he naturally poses an additional threat to opponents. Loftus-Cheek’s only goal so far in Serie A came, not coincidentally, with a header in Lecce.
“He has to convince himself he can score more,” Allegri urged him before the match against Torino. Indeed, with his size, power and technique the former Chelsea player has untapped goalscoring potential. In his first season at Milan, he even scored double figures across all competitions.
His beastly physique is one of his strengths, but paradoxically also one of his weaknesses. In the last year and a half, Ruben has never found consistency, also and above all due to frequent injuries.
More than a false nine
Now, Loftus-Cheek is finally feeling well, and he can get minutes even as a false nine given the limited squad depth. Although, when you think of the term – first coined for Lionel Messi in Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona – it’s natural to imagine a small man up front.
Take Serie A this year: we’ve seen Kenan Yildiz play as a central striker for Luciano Spalletti’s Juventus in Naples (with mixed results), Tomasso Baldanzi for Gian Piero Gasperini’s Roma in the last away match against Cagliari, and David Neres for Antonio Conte’s Napoli against Inter.
Ruben isn’t that prototype of a player. He is a midfielder who can run into space and has the build of a target man rather than a silky ‘nine and a half’. Perhaps that’s precisely why Allegri knows he can use him up front.
✅️ Zirkzee arriva il Milan
✅️ Loftus-Cheek in missione pic.twitter.com/PqW5PY3Mu1
— #𝑴𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒏𝑺𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆 (@MilanSpace_03) December 11, 2025
Ultimately, Max is succeeding in his plan to transform (or at least reprogram, given that the Portuguese was originally a centre-forward) Leao into a striker, after years of playing on the left side. He can easily think about doing the same with Loftus-Cheek.
Besides winning with Milan, Loftus has another big (and difficult) goal: earning a spot in the England squad for the next World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States. For this reason, too, there are plenty of transfer rumours about him returning to the Premier League in January.
For now, however, Milan are holding onto him: where can you find someone capable of covering three positions without significantly lowering the team’s level?
English (US) ·