Tennis fan Ruben Loftus-Cheek revealed a private chat with Andy Murray has inspired his late charge towards an England World Cup encore.
Chelsea's born-again midfield linchpin, enjoying his best run of form and fitness since a ruptured achilles tendon in 2019, will lead the Blues' charge towards the Champions League knockout stage here. In the city where composer Mozart was born, head coach Graham Potter is more likely to get a tune out of his side if Loftus-Cheek is on song.
A win at the swanky Red Bull Arena will guarantee Chelsea's place in the last 16 as group winners. And if Loftus-Cheek is conducting the orchestra, they will have two-time Wimbledon champion Murray to thank for playing his part like Mozart's magic flute.
Loftus-Cheek said: "I went to see Andy play and train at Surbiton in the summer - I am a big tennis fan, and we had a good chat at the Laver Cup. It was good to find out how he sees himself, talk about his career the injuries that have hindered him through it – he had a big one with his hip.
"We had a good chat to compare our careers and how injuries have been a big part, but I feel good now – strong and fit. Being injury-free in the past couple of years has been a big positive for me, and I feel like I am now at a moment in my career at Chelsea where I am impacting games. It hasn't always been like that, for various reasons, but it's what I've been wanting to feel since I was 17 or 18."
Loftus-Cheek, 26, was part of England's World Cup squad in Russia four years ago, making four appearances, and his career was on an upward curve until that serious injury took the wind from his sails.
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Now he has an outside chance of making Gareth Southgate's 26-man squad for Qatar, and he admitted: "It would be amazing, it would mean a lot. As a player going into the 2018 World Cup, you see your trajectory going upwards and think about being at the next one if everything goes well.
"A lot has happened in that time, and if I go to the World Cup it would mean the world to me, but that is not at the forefront of my mind right now. There are important matches coming up in the Champions League and Premier League for Chelsea, so it would be selfish to think about my personal aspirations rather than the club at the moment.
“But when that upward trajectory is taken away from you, the toughest part is the mental side of it. Even though I have put in a lot of energy and work physically in the gym to get back to how I am feeling now, the mental side – staying focused and diligent, and having the belief that I could get back to where I was – was the hardest part.
"There are still lots of ups and downs, but the only way to get there is to have belief in yourself. I always tried to stay positive, that's the main thing."
Potter's first game as Chelsea's head honcho was an uninspired 1-1 draw with Salzburg in the reverse fixture. He remains unbeaten in eight games as Thomas Tuchel's successor, and Loftus-Cheek's cocktail of happy feet and physical presence in midfield has caught the manager's eye.
Potter said: "He's really impressed me, on and off the pitch. He's a very humble guy, he wants to learn, wants to improve and he has clearly benefitted from game time. Clearly he needs a good fitness level to carry that big body around the pitch, but the quality is there. He's fantastic on the ball, a great athlete, and I think he's put himself in a situation where he will be one of the players that Gareth is looking at as an outsider coming into the (England) squad – but that's Gareth's decision."
