Chelsea loanee Fikayo Tomori is Derby County’s Player of the Season. But outside his accolades, he is barely mentioned in loan army conversations.
Derby County has taken full advantage of Frank Lampard and his Chelsea connections. It extends beyond staff such as Jody Morris joining him. It goes into Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori joining on loan (and playing a frankly ridiculous amount of minutes) and Ashley Cole linking up with his former teammate.
Much of the focus from Chelsea fans looking in has been on Lampard himself and Mount. When Mount went out injured, Derby County notably suffered. But Derby fans would not point to Mount as their most important player. In fact, they gave Tomori the Supporters’ Club Player of the Season award.
The fans alone did not take note of Tomori. The club did as well as they gave Tomori their own Player of the Season award. Chelsea fans have taken note as well, but rarely was Tomori spoken about before winning the awards. He is Frank Lampard’s best kept secret and by extension, Chelsea’s (so secret they may not have noticed either).
It is somewhat understandable why Tomori has flown under the radar. His first two loans, to Brighton (then in the Championship) and Hull City did not go fantastically. He was seen as a somewhat rash player and prone to mistakes. Derby was his third successive loan in the Championship for the now 21 year old and few would have expected a great deal from him.
That notion was likely reinforced early this season for Chelsea fans. The first, and only, look for many fans came when the Blues played Derby County in the League Cup. Tomori’s own goal opened the scoring against Derby who had done quite well against Chelsea. Tomori improved little as the match went on.
But Derby fans saw something different as the season progressed. As Chelsea fans were looking at Mount’s influence, Tammy Abraham’s goals, and Reece James’ always excellent highlights from a far, they missed out on the quiet yet solid work Tomori was doing for Derby County.
Ask most Derby County fans who they would rather have if they earned promotion, and almost universally they would ask for another Tomori loan. Many would love to make the move permanent as well, but it is hard to tell exactly how the Blues rate the player when he is so rarely mentioned in the Chelsea sphere.
If Derby do earn promotion, Tomori will likely return next season. Even if they do not, the fans will want him back again. The Blues have few chances for the young defender with the centerback pipeline full with young rising talent.
If Tomori can continue this form in the Premier League next season on loan, however, he will be making a strong case to walk into the Chelsea first team. The young defender has taken his time to find his feet on loan, but now that he has he is showing his quality. It is up to Chelsea whether they recognize it or not going forward and it is up to Tomori to continue to capitalize on it.