On May 14th, 2019, things seemed to be going rather well for Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
The tall, imposing central midfielder with the presence of Michael Ballack and the poise of Frank Lampard had finally broken into the Chelsea first team under Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea.
He scored 10 goals in 40 appearances in all competitions, scored the first goal in the 3-0 win against Watford which secured Champions League football, and scored in the Europa League semi-final second leg vs Eintracht Frankfurt to send them to Baku.
Loftus-Cheek had seemingly confirmed his spot as a bona fide regular, would likely have played in that final, and was named in England's Nations League finals squad, a year after playing himself into the 2018 World Cup squad on loan at Crystal Palace.