Ruben Loftus-Cheek will miss Europa League final after rupturing Achilles

Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek will miss the Europa League final after rupturing his Achilles tendon in a charity friendly in the USA.

The 23-year-old went down clutching his left ankle in the first half of Chelsea's 3-0 win over New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium.

Chelsea said the player had seen a specialist on Thursday and will now have surgery.

Chelsea play Arsenal in the final in Baku on Wednesday, 29 May.

England manager Gareth Southgate had earlier confirmed Loftus-Cheek would miss the final when announcing his squad for the forthcoming Nations League finals.

The player had been in the squad - but Southgate was forced to call up a replacement after learning of his injury.

"I went to bed last night and Ruben's in the squad and playing brilliantly," Southgate said.

"He misses now a major European final and a brilliant opportunity for us."

He added it was a "huge disappointment" for the Chelsea man.

Loftus-Cheek scored in the second leg of the Blues' Europa League semi-final against Eintracht Frankfurt and has been directly involved in nine goals in his past 15 competitive appearances for Chelsea.

Wednesday's friendly raised £3.1m for organisations which combat hate crimes.

Ross Barkley scored twice either side of an Olivier Giroud header in the comfortable win in Foxborough.

Prior to the game, Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri had expressed his concerns about travelling to the US so close to a major European final.