Chelsea’s Fikayo Tomori exploded on to the scene before falling off the cliff. What questions need to be asked of the player and this mystery?
Fikayo Tomori was ever present for Chelsea right up until January. After that, he became a name people only ever heard about because he certainly was not playing. It was a sharp change in fortunes for the young Englishman that has thrown his future into disarray. What questions need to be asked before the new season?
1. What happened with him?
The obvious question is how a player can go from being a locked on starter with the team to playing just three times in 2020. Because it was never made clear by the player or the club what happened and fans have only been left to speculate with very few pieces of information to go off of.
The initial excuse for him being dropped was an illness. Those are not unusual in January and from time to time, they can be quite severe. It is possible that he picked up some bug that truly did put him out of contention as deep as March. The problem is the league resumed after that and he did not play at all.
The next option brought up is Frank Lampard became aggravated at his mistakes. This is at least a theory that can have some merit. Despite Tomori being excellent, he was still a somewhat raw player and he did tend to make at least one costly mistake per game.
But did he really make any more mistakes than Andreas Christensen or Antonio Rudiger? Surely not but even still the best Tomori could do was make the bench.
That leaves the final option of some off the pitch incident or series of incidents that resulted in behind closed doors disciplinary action. There are rumors to that, but they are thin enough that they are not truly worth bringing up. If they were true, however, they would have had to be extremely egregious given the Euros were supposed to be coming up.
The truth is no one knows the answer because no one is saying. It is all speculation and that can be as dangerous as actually knowing. Fans will simply have to wait for the truth to come out.
2. A loan or a chance at redemption?
All roads, rumors, and signs point towards Tomori going out on loan. He had already fallen down to a distant fourth choice of four centerbacks before Thiago Silva signed for Chelsea. Silva’s arrival means someone has to make way and Tomori has to be top of that list.
Simply put, Tomori needs playing time. Young players and young defenders especially cannot improve unless they are testing themselves against opponents week in and week out. Tomori already lost nearly eight months of 2020 and he cannot afford to lose much more.
That being said, a loan would cause him to miss out on a valuable new mentor in Thiago Silva. The other three defenders can also learn from the new Brazilian centerback, but they are also reaching the point where what they do is engrained as muscle memory. They can pick up new tricks but they can’t change their trajectories. Tomori still can but not if he is on loan.
There is hope on that front as all the Chelsea centerbacks seem to be on the market for the right price. Eventually, the Blues may be looking to bring in Declan Rice with raised funds but he would be more suited to midfield after playing there for a few seasons. Even still, to afford Rice, two centerbacks may need to depart which could give Tomori a chance to stay.
Beyond that, Tomori really was the defender of the season all the way up until December or so. Maybe he made a mistake or maybe something else happened, no one knows for sure outside of that locker room. But surely enough time has passed where Tomori could go to Lampard and say what needs to be said for the two to start over.
Given the chance, Tomori could surely work his way into Lampard’s plans. Without one, that loan is going to have to be his way forward by taking a step back.
3. Is this it for him in blue?
Tomori is 22, which is not old for a centerback by any means but he is getting a bit too old to be playing the loan army shuffle. A new loan would be his fourth after Brighton, Hull, and Derby. He did alright at Hull but only truly started to find his feet under Lampard at Derby.
And that is part of the issue. Lampard is the only manager to really figure Tomori out thus far. If there has been a fallout between the two, the chances of Tomori out lasting Lampard in Blue are slim given how the manager has been backed. The two could settle whatever the dispute is or Tomori can go out on loan. If he goes though, fans need to understand it may mean he will not be coming back.
If Tomori goes out on loan, no matter where that may be, he would almost have to be near perfect to have a chance at Chelsea. Afterall, grudges can fall by the wayside when the player can put up the performances to make the manager move on. Anything short of that and Lampard can comfortably continue as he has before which leaves Tomori in the dark.
The English defender has the talent needed to succeed; it will simply be a matter if he can unleash it without Lampard. Thus far, his career has not really shown that and both parties surely know it. So, fans may need to prepare for a Tomori loan turning into a Tomori good bye before he plays for Chelsea again.
What questions do you think need to be asked of Tomori before next season? Let us know in the comments and on Twitter!