RUBEN LOFTUS-CHEEK has admitted to finally being "free" at AC Milan after feeling like a "caged animal" at Chelsea.
The midfielder left the Blues for Italy in the summer after 19 years in their system.
He has since thrived under Stefano Pioli, helping his team to the top of Serie A.
Loftus-Cheek, 27, has hit the ground running with his new club.
And such is his popularity there, that he has become the latest cover star of Gazzetta dello Sport's Sportweek magazine.
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As part of their chat, he revealed: "I love reading, I like books that give inner peace and freedom."
On the subject of freedom when it comes to his football, he then added: "At Chelsea I felt like a caged animal, I didn't play as much as I wanted and when it happened I played in positions where I couldn't express myself.
"Here, however, I have a free mind, I play as a midfielder as I like and it's like being a child again, when we played without worries.
"If the whole team has this feeling, great things can be achieved: even winning the championship. We feel like the best."
At Chelsea, Loftus-Cheek was often deployed as a right wing-back under previous boss Thomas Tuchel.
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Prior to that, he had frequently been asked to play further forward than his natural midfield berth.
Loftus-Cheek joined fellow Cobham graduate Fikayo Tomori at the San Siro.
Opening up about the rest of his new team-mates, he said: "Taken one by one, (Alessandro) Florenzi is the craziest, (Rafael) Leao the most beautiful, Malick Thiaw the one who fights the most, (Yacine) Adli the most elegant, (Mike) Maignan the leader."
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Ten-cap England international Loftus-Cheek played 155 times for Chelsea, scoring 13 times and laying on 18 assists.
He has since played seven times in Serie A, scoring one goal and setting up a further two.
