Loftus-Cheek and Quansah added to England squad

Ruben Loftus-Cheek made his England debut in a friendly against Germany in 2017

Ruben Loftus-Cheek has been added to the England squad for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia, seven years after his last cap.

The AC Milan midfielder has 10 England caps, with the last of those coming when he came on as a substitute in a win against the United States in November 2018.

England boss Thomas Tuchel managed the 29-year-old during his stint in charge of Chelsea.

Bayer Leverkusen centre-back Jarell Quansah has also been called up, after an injury to Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton.

Wharton picked up the groin injury in his side's 3-0 win at Aston Villa on Sunday.

Quansah, 22, was part of the England side that won the European Under-21 Championship in June, and joined the German club from Liverpool in a £35m deal last month.

He was also part of Tuchel's first England squad in March that faced Albania and Latvia in the World Cup qualifiers, but is yet to win his first senior cap.

England host Andorra on Saturday, 6 September before a game away to Serbia on Tuesday, 9 September.

Why Loftus-Cheek left Chelsea

Loftus-Cheek was a casualty of the unprecedented churn of players at Chelsea between the Roman Abramovich ownership and the Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital era.

He was the first player to properly break through the now-revered Cobham academy under Abramovich's ownership, which made him an important figure at Stamford Bridge.

Loftus-Cheek had his best years under Tuchel, who made it one of his pet projects to allow the player he compared to Germany great Michael Ballack to realise his potential.

However, it was downhill after Tuchel was sacked by the new owners and Loftus-Cheek endured a chaotic 2022-23 season as Chelsea finished 12th.

Around this time, midfielders Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo joined for more than £100m apiece and academy players were sold for 'pure profit' to help balance the books.

'Not shown best of himself in Italy'

Italian football journalist Daniele Verri said after a promising first season at AC Milan, Loftus-Cheek's second was a "disaster".

"He was always injured. He played until the beginning of December when he got injured, then basically came back at the end of April. He had muscular problems throughout the season, his appendix was removed.

"For him, it was a disaster because he was out all the time, the club was going through a terrible season with managerial changes, so he never had continuity.

"He has started well this season and he scored at the weekend in Lecce. He is still a player who has to be seen in Italy - he hasn't showed the best of himself yet.

"Manager Massimiliano Allegri recently said that he and Youssouf Fofana have 15 goals to bring to the team between them, so let's see if he is right.

"Allegri will count on him for sure, he has played in both games so far. He has potential, but he has also shown in Italy he is very prone to injuries. If he stays fit, he is a player who has quality."