Fikayo Tomori, one of Chelsea’s academy graduates that has risen to the limelight ever since he made the loan move to Derby County where he had a chance to play under familiar face Frank Lampard who was appointed the manager of Derby County two seasons ago… proving his development and growth, he was named Derby’s player of the season, winning the award above other very talented players in the squad which included another Chelsea’s academy graduate Mason Mount who was instrumental for Derby County as well.
According to reports which came out few days ago, Chelsea has let Tomori join AC Milan on Loan to continue his development and progress. We all saw Tomori break into the Chelsea first team last season when they had transfer ban and had to rely on the academy graduates and academy players last season. Tomori even though isn’t the finished article yet and made a few mistake here and there… which is normal for a very young player and a player who is still learning and developing, he still showed his qualities and played a vital part in helping Chelsea finish in the top 4 and secure champions league football for this season.
When this season began, a lot of fans thought this was going to be the season for Tomori to cement his place in the first team and become even better as he showed enough last season and his days at Derby County that he has all it takes to become a top top defender coupled with his insane pace, he has what it takes to progress into becoming one of the top defenders in not only in the premier league but in Europe in few years to come if he continues improving and becoming better. However, things changed quickly for the player as Chelsea signed 36-year old and world class center back in Thiago Silva which meant that there was more competition for Tomori especially with more senior players like Zouma and Rudiger in the squad.
With the signing of Thiago Silva who has shown so far that Chelsea made the right decision and also that age is just a number as Thiago Silva has been key for Chelsea so far this season – thing became more of a headache for Frank Lampard to make decision on who was going to be the center back pairing alongside Thiago Silva who was obviously was going to be a regular starter for Chelsea especially last season and early this season which showed how poor Chelsea was defensively and desperately needed an experienced defender to help bring stability on the heart of the Chelsea defense.
After different personnel changes and variations, Kurt Zouma emerged the favorite to pair alongside Thaigo Silva as both players showed great relationship and understanding on the pitch… Zouma knowing how to speak French and Thiago Silva understanding and knowing how to speak French was a big factor, as both players complemented each other very well and helped Chelsea go on a run of games with cleansheet… all thanks to the inclusion of Mendy as the goalkeeper as well. With Zouma being the first choice center back pairing to Thiago Silva, and with Rudiger and Christensen also in the line, this meant that Tomori was pushed down to third choice center back and less playing time.
Knowing the talent and qualities Tomori has, not playing matches could hinder his development and progress and it was time to go out on loan to try to get more playing time to continue his development and progress. One of Italian giants AC Milan was seen as the right destination for the young center back to continue learning his trade and gaining more and more experience under his belt. However, some section of the Chelsea fans are in favor with this move while some section of the Chelsea fans are not in favor of this move as they feel Tomori is a better defender than the two other options at the club aside Thiago Silva and Rudiger.
For me, I think it is a good move and instead of staying on the bench and not getting any game time as Lampard has shown that Rudiger and Christensen are higher up his list of center back options – so it is better for him to go out on loan and gain more playing time and experience in a league that has a reputation of being defensive and is known to be very good at producing quality defenders. So in my opinion, it is a very good choice for Tomori… however, only time will tell whether his loan spell will be a success or not. For me and a lot of other Chelsea fans, wish him the best in his time in the Serie A as he continues to develop his potential and progress.