Not only did the versatile midfielder set an example to all young Chelsea Academy players through his professionalism and dignity, but Ruben also brought experience and guile to the first-team dressing room having played with so many Chelsea legends over the years.

There is the argument that injuries may have hindered his career up to this point, and Blues fans will always look back on that charity match against New England Revolution where he picked up a season-ending Achilles injury ahead of 2019/20.

Here are his numbers in detail as we share his Chelsea story.

155

Ruben departs having featured 155 times for the Blues. 103 of these were accumulated in the Premier League, with 14 in the FA Cup and 10 in the League Cup.

On the European stage, he made 17 Champions League appearances, and 11 in the Europa League, which he won in 2018/19.

The breakdown:

Ruben’s most successful campaign in terms of appearances came in two seasons, when he made 40 appearances in both 2018/19 and 2021/22.

33 appearances came in his final season in Chelsea blue. His other 38 games came across four seasons.

13

Ruben scored 13 times for Chelsea.

The Cobham graduate netted a whopping 77 per cent of his goals in 2018/19, as 10 of the 13 came under Maurizio Sarri’s stewardship, in which Ruben flourished.

He netted a hat-trick against BATE Borisov in the Europa League en route to Baku.

His final goal for Chelsea came at Wembley, in the FA Cup semi-final against his former loan club Crystal Palace last season.

3

Ruben won three trophies at Chelsea: the Premier League in 2016/17, the Europa League in 2018/19 and the UEFA Super Cup in Belfast.