Hargreaves heaps praise on Loftus-Cheek after fomer Blues midfielder nets twice

Owen Hargreaves lauded Ruben Loftus-Cheek's decision to move away from Chelsea after the midfielder struck twice in AC Milan's Europa League play-off tie against Rennes on Thursday evening.

The 28-year-old Blues academy graduate left his boyhood club after 19 years as part of the summer exodus from Stamford Bridge which saw a number of former first-team starters sold to offset the club's mammoth transfer window spending.

Loftus-Cheek has settled quickly in Milan and become a regular fixture under Stefano Pioli alongside fellow ex-Chelsea stars Olivier Giroud, Christian Pulisic, and Fikayo Tomori.

The midfielder has netted seven times across all competitions, registering an additional two assists in Serie A, and Thursday night's brace saw him become the first Rossoneri to score twice in a European knockout game since Kaka in 2007.

After the final whistle, Hargreaves not only described Loftus-Cheek as a 'good fit' at the San Siro, but wondered whether the player might even wish he had moved abroad sooner.

'Just looking at it, I can't believe Ruben Loftus-Cheek is 28 already,' Hargreaves said on duty for TNT Sports. 'I know he's always been a star as a young man but he probably should have made this move (abroad) a little bit sooner.

'He's such a talented guy. Probably played a little bit deeper at times. This is where he's at his absolute best, arriving in the box with his size. He's a good header of the ball. He's got goals in him.

'It shows he's in a really good place, in a team that plays to his strengths. And he's scoring goals. That one (the second goal), he's a little bit fortunate, it arrives to him.

'I think the confidence has grown. We've always known that he's such a talented player, he's obviously not a boy anymore,