<p>As one of the many elite European clubs coming to this side of the Atlantic Ocean this summer, you can watch the AC Milan friendlies in the USA. Yet, compared to the other teams heading here too, the club is special in one way. Milan has two notable Americans, including the best player of the current crop of American talent. Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah will feature for <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/ac-milan-tv-schedule">Milan</a> in its three-game summer tour of the United States. That comes on the back of successful seasons in Italy. Both made moves to Milan before the 2023/24 season to great success.</p>



<p>Joining the two Americans is Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Much like Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek was an outcast at Chelsea who quickly blossomed into one of the better players in Serie A. </p>



<p>In a press conference on Thursday, <em>World Soccer Talk </em>spoke with Loftus-Cheek about the Americans featured in the Milan side.</p>



<p>Speaking about Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek remarked, “He’s a leader, and he leads by how he plays. We really hope he gets better this coming season, and it has been a pleasure to play with Christian and see his growth, as well.”</p>



<p>It is a major opportunity for Pulisic and Musah to continue their growth. Pulisic set a personal best in goals in a domestic campaign with 12 last season. His nine assists were also his best for one league season in which he made 36 appearances.</p>



<h2>Playing time works for Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek says same can work for Musah</h2>



<p>Loftus-Cheek spoke with <em>World Soccer Talk </em>and other reporters as Milan enter the preparations for the 2024/25 campaign. Milan will play Manchester City, Real Madrid and Barcelona in New York, Chicago and Baltimore, respectively. </p>



<p>Much like Christian Pulisic, having more time to get comfortable as a consistent starter allowed Ruben Loftus-Cheek to thrive. The English midfielder tied his single-season bests for goals and assists. To be fair, though, that is not the best metric to use for someone who generally plays out of a deeper role. Regardless, Loftus-Cheek proved that playing time is all he needs. The season he tied that goals and assists tally was in 2018/19 with Chelsea where he made 24 appearances in the Premier League.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" width="1200" height="675" src="https://ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https://images.worldsoccertalk.com/webp/full/WST_20240718_WST_517106_Pulisic-Loftus-Cheek-1200x675_02a18773.webp&amp;width=1200&amp;height=675" alt="" class="wp-image-517161" srcset="https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/07/Pulisic-Loftus-Cheek-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/07/Pulisic-Loftus-Cheek-300x169.jpg 300w, https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/07/Pulisic-Loftus-Cheek-768x432.jpg 768w, https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/07/Pulisic-Loftus-Cheek-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/07/Pulisic-Loftus-Cheek.jpg 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px"></figure></figure>



<p>American fans will see what happened to Pulisic and hope the same can ring true for Yunus Musah. The challenge for the American midfielder is that he plays in a similar position to Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Still, Loftus-Cheek sees Musah as a player who can continue his development as a player.</p>



<p>“Yunus was fantastic last season,” Loftus-Cheek said. “He maybe did not play the number of games he wanted to, but when he played, he was fantastic. I’m sure for Yunus he’ll want to play more this season.”</p>



<p>The preseason will be an opportunity for Musah to show his value to new manager <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/fonseca-deal-not-done-allegri-linked-to-surprising-milan-return/">Paulo Fonseca</a>. Milan has started the preliminary portion of its preseason program, and Musah will hope to be a major part of it.</p>



<h2>Preseason friendlies in USA could provide a preview of Milan campaign</h2>



<p>If Musah figures to play regularly, Fonseca will want a good look at him in <span style="margin: 0px;padding: 0px">the&nbsp;<a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/schedule-of-soccer-friendlies-in-us-this-summer/">upcoming friendlies</a></span>. Milan opens its preseason calendar in the United States in New York City against Premier League champions Manchester City. That game is on Saturday, July 27. Four days later, Milan travels west to Chicago to take on Real Madrid at Soldier Field. Milan then concludes its preseason tour of the United States against Barcelona in Baltimore on Aug. 6. Tickets to those games are still available on <a href="https://vivid-seats.pxf.io/c/330866/952533/12730?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vividseats.com%2Fac-milan-tickets--sports-soccer%2Fperformer%2F4467" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener sponsored nofollow">Vivid Seats</a>. Plus many of the games are available on live streaming too (see the <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/ac-milan-tv-schedule/">AC Milan TV schedule</a> for more details).</p>



<p><em>PHOTOS: IMAGO</em></p>

Loftus-Cheek talks Pulisic, Musah, and Milan friendlies in USA

AC Milan is playing friendlies in the USA as one of the many elite European clubs coming to this side of the Atlanta Ocean.

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<p>Chelsea is looking to offload more talent, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek may be going to AC Milan. The England international spent his entire youth career in the Chelsea academy. He also has over a century of Premier League appearances with Chelsea. However, he is in excess of requirements and looks set for a move to Italy.</p>



<p>Ruben Loftus-Cheek has been keen on a move to Milan since he saw his playing time diminish this past season. Despite making <a href="https://www.transfermarkt.us/ruben-loftus-cheek/leistungsdaten/spieler/202886" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">33 appearances</a> in all competitions with the Blues this past season, he only played the full 90 eight times. His output was down, as he managed just two assists in those games. </p>



<p>With a now-bloated squad after <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/latest-chelsea-transfers-not-at-fault-for-aimless-spending-20230114-WST-415145.html">record spending</a>, Ruben Loftus-Cheek is willing to be one of the players to move. He will join <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/ngolo-kante-joins-al-ittihad-in-deal-worth-over-100-million-20230621-WST-438816.html">N’Golo Kanté</a>, Hakim Ziyech and Kalidou Koulibaly as players to leave Stamford Bridge this summer. However, those three are going to Saudi Arabia, while Loftus-Cheek is moving to Serie A.</p>



<p>Loftus-Cheek likes the project currently going on at Milan. Despite a hefty quantity of turnover on and off the field, Milan did reach the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League Final. Plus, Loftus-Cheek has a compatriot he can look to already. Fikyao Tomori turned into a mainstay in the Milan lineup after his move. Funnily enough, Tomori moved to Italy under similar circumstances to Loftus-Cheek.</p>



<p>In 2021, Tomori was losing out on playing time and went out on loan several times. He never broke through at Chelsea but has grown in Italy. Loftus-Cheek, now at the age of 27, is running out of time to capitalize on his potential.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<div class="ck-twitter"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ruben Loftus-Cheek, keen on joining AC Milan since May. He’s always been very attracted by Milan project when talks started almost two months ago. 🔴⚫️ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ACMilan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ACMilan</a><br><br>Deal now advancing with Chelsea as personal terms are 100% agreed. <a href="https://t.co/rqb9UH1Nro">pic.twitter.com/rqb9UH1Nro</a></p>— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) <a href="https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1673346979722678277?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2023</a></blockquote></div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<h2>Loftus-Cheek ready for change in Milan</h2>



<p>According to Fabrizio Romano, Loftus-Cheek and Milan have already agreed personal terms. Loftus-Cheek is under contract for one more year at Chelsea. Therefore, his transfer fee would be fairly low. Plus, Chelsea is willing to give away players to make room in the squad. With Mason Mount also looking for a move, this would clear up the midfield for newer acquisitions. </p>



<p>Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia and even Declan Rice all have rumors to go to Chelsea. If it can clear up space in the middle of the park and gain some funding, it can move for these players.</p>



<p><em>PHOTO: IMAGO / Pro Sports Images</em></p>


Chelsea is looking to offload more talent, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who spent his whole career with the Blues, may be going to AC Milan.

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