Chelsea made a big mistake selling Tomori
Carlo Garganese
- 22 Sept 2021 18:44 BST
- 4 min read
Chelsea’s search for a centre-back has dominated the transfer headlines in recent days.
The Blues have made the signing of a top-class stopper their priority in the summer of 2022 and they have a host of big names on their shortlist.
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These include Juventus star Matthijs De Ligt, PSG’s Marquinhos, Sevilla’s Jules Kounde and Inter duo Alessandro Bastoni and Milan Skriniar.
Chelsea are at risk of losing a number of their first-choice central defenders at the end of the current season as the contracts of Thiago Silva, Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christiansen and Cesar Azpilicueta all expire.
While Chelsea are hopeful of tying down, if not all then, most of these players to another contract, there is no doubt that their backline needs at least one, if not two, top additions next summer.
One player who would be the perfect defender is a player Chelsea already owned until recently; Fikayo Tomori.
The 23-year-old spent 15 years at the club, coming through the club’s youth system before making his first-team debut.
He was always tipped for great things but, after failing to play much at the start of last season, he was loaned out to Milan for the second half of the 2020-21 campaign. The deal became permanent this summer for €29 million (£25m).
How has Tomori played at Milan?
Almost immediately after touching down in Italy’s fashion capital, Tomori made a huge impact. He soon dislodged club captain Alessandro Romagnoli from the starting XI to form what can now be described as the best centre-back pairing in Serie A alongside Denmark veteran Simon Kjaer.
Milan finished second in Serie A last season – the club’s best placing in nine years and a return to Champions League football for the first time since 2013.
Despite losing superstar Gigi Donnarumma and attacking midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu, Milan are looking like title challengers this time around.
They are currently unbeaten with 10 points from their first four games. Their challenge is built on the league’s strongest back four, which has conceded only two goals so far.
Tomori is a key component of that. He is fast, aggressive, reads the game well and like all good modern defenders he uses the ball intelligently.
His pass accuracy of 93% is among the best in the division this season, as are his 33 ball recoveries which illustrate his excellence at winning the ball.
He played an outstanding game against Juventus in the 1-1 draw in Turin on Sunday and was one of the best players on the pitch. Indeed, his switch from right back to centre back during the first half was key in Milan’s comeback as they had been lacking his pace in the middle while both Kjaer and Romagnoli were on together. Tomori made one fantastic goal-saving challenge on Alvaro Morata.
Tomori also has an impressive temperament despite his young age. In what is a very youthful Milan team, he has already established himself as someone who is always ready for the battle.
Tomori deserves England call-up
At the age of just 23, Tomori is only going to get better and it is a mystery how he is not an England regular already.
This is a defender who is far superior in every area of the game than regular England squad members like Connor Coady and Tyrone Mings.
And he is someone who would shine at Chelsea now, too.
Chelsea’s transfer policy of selling academy players for a profit has worked out brilliantly over recent years. Indeed, this summer they registered a profit despite signing Romelu Lukaku for €115m.
However, Tomori is someone they will regret losing. He has all the technical and tactical attributes to star at Chelsea under Thomas Tuchel and he would have been an ideal successor to any of the defenders who may leave at the end of the season.
Perhaps they will bring him back one day, just as they did with Lukaku!
