Ruben Loftus-Cheek may yet be able to force his way into England’s 2022 World Cup squad with less than two weeks to go before the Premier League breaks up for the tournament. The boost for Loftus-Cheek comes as he is included in a huge 55-man shortlist squad, which will be trimmed down first. The Athletic report that a preliminary squad has the midfielder in it, with Reece James also a possible inclusion despite his knee injury keeping him out of action until December. The midfielder has already expressed his desire to play for his country at a major tournament again,
Ruben Loftus-Cheek said: “It would be amazing. It would mean a lot. Going into the 2018 World Cup, you see your trajectory go upwards and to be at the next World Cup if everything goes well. A lot has happened in that time, and I am just happy and grateful that I am fit and healthy and playing football now consistently. If I go to the World Cup, it would mean the world — but that is not at the forefront of my mind now. It would be selfish to think about my personal aspirations rather than the club at the moment.”
Those personal impacts also aren’t being taken into consideration by Potter, who expressed his thoughts on Raheem Sterling’s form,
Graham Potter said: “I’ve not thought about that, to be honest, in terms of the World Cup. Every player has times in a season where it isn’t necessarily going for them as well as they’d like it to. Again, as I’ve mentioned before, it’s too easy to zoom into the individual, and you’ve got to look at the team and see how the team is functioning and how the team can help whatever player you mention. That’s what we’ve tried to do. You have to try to help the team improve, and then the individuals within it can do better.”
