Fikayo Tomori is set to head out on loan with Chelsea stacked at centerback. A first division loan is in order but the ideal fit is hard to see.
When Ethan Ampadu was revealed to be going on loan, the ideal destinations seemed obvious. And when he went to one of those destinations, it all made sense. But it is not quite as clear cut for Fikayo Tomori.
Tomori’s best bet for staying at Chelsea this season was for one of the four senior centerbacks to cut and run rather than be fourth choice. But David Luiz, Kurt Zouma, Antonio Rudiger, and Andreas Christensen all seem content with fighting it out. That left Tomori needing a loan to further his development.
Chelsea clearly thinks he is first division quality with Premier League, Bundesliga, and Primeira Liga teams interested. But unlike Ampadu, there is no clear easy and ideal choice for Tomori.
First of all, when a center back goes on loan it needs to be somewhere that they are a clear starter. And while Tomori did win Derby’s Player of the Year award, any of those three leagues would be a step up from the Championship.
The Primeira Liga is very tactical as well as technical and would be a step up from the Championship. But outside of the teams in Europe, the quality sees a sharp drop off. If he were to go to Portugal, it would have to be to one of the teams in the Europa League or the Champions League.
If he were to go to the Bundesliga, there would be less of a need to go to a team with continental competition. Outside of Bayern Munich and Dortmund some years, there is a great deal of parity in the league. Anywhere that he could start would be good for him. Gladbach would be the romantics’ choice after Christensen’s loan there but that would be a difficult club to break into.
The Premier League would be the most natural fit for obvious reasons. Crystal Palace lack defenders and Roy Hodgson has not been shy about playing loanees. But there are also rumors about Reece James going on loan to Palace and the Blues cannot loan both.
Realistically, any team that tries to play out of the back would be a good destination for Tomori in developing a skill set Lampard can use down the road. Sheffield United with their “overlapping center backs” could be a fun loan. Everton desperately want Zouma back, but maybe Chelsea can send Tomori instead.
For center backs, what a loan really comes down to most is whether they start or not. Tactical style is secondary to minutes more so for center backs than perhaps any other outfield position. An ideal loan for Tomori would be any team that guarantees Chelsea he will be a starter.
The Premier League would be ideal, but do not knock European experience in Portugal or the much different style of the Bundesliga. So long as Tomori starts, the loan will be ideal. The exact club is just harder to determine for the young defender.