Fikayo Tomori’s Chelsea swansong may be coming to an end

Fikayo Tomori’s Chelsea swansong started somewhere around New Years 2020. For the 18 months prior, he had been a near lock for Frank Lampard’s starting XI’s across two different clubs in two different leagues. Around the turn of the year, he got some kind of illness that saw Andreas Christensen and the recently fit Antonio Rudiger start over him. And for the rest of the season, they didn’t really stop.

Tomori could count on one hand the amount of appearances he had on the back end of the 2019/2020 season, even with the Covid break included. A loan seemed certain, but for whatever reason the plug was pulled on any deal as he was to stay and start over Rudiger. Then Rudiger also stayed, made up with Lampard, and Tomori was suddenly fifth choice in a four man rotation. On the eve of Lampard’s sacking, Tomori was loaned out to AC Milan with a buy clause. This is perhaps the clearest indication of all that the club, not just Lampard, saw Tomori more as a transfer fee than a potential first team member.

Now Tomori’s Chelsea swansong is coming to an end. He has done well at AC Milan and they seem willing to trigger his buy clause. Chelsea fans are very split over the deal, but interestingly enough, so are Milan fans in their own way.

Chelsea fans are mostly seeing his AC Milan performances and wondering why he never got a shot at Chelsea. They’ll also be wondering why the board attached such a low buy clause to a player that seemingly fit into the ethos of the youth revolution. On paper, at least, Tomori looked like a centerback to build around for years to come just like Mason Mount in midfield.

Milan fans are a little more split over things. While the buy clause is affordable, they question if they can’t get a better suited player for a similar value. Their commentary on Tomori is not dissimilar to the commentary at Chelsea. He is a fast defender that is good on the ball, but he also has mistakes in him. His positioning errors are often masked by his speed at winning the ball back, but he is also good for one wild passing giveaway a game.

Those reasons were, in part, used by Lampard to justify his exclusion. While it seems Milan fans wouldn’t mind paying the clause to get Tomori to stay permanently, they simply seem to think that they can do better in the market than him.

Which leaves Tomori in an interesting place. Chelsea seemingly has no place for him even if back three continues. The hierarchy of the club seems to rate the younger Marc Guehi higher than Tomori and that is not to mention a new centerback being on the transfer wish list. Milan may wait to see if they have Champions League or not, but Tomori is a transfer they don’t need to be rushed on. They can scout other players as they wait to decide what to do with Tomori and then make a decision when their fate for next season is clearer.

One thing in Tomori’s situation is his age. The missing traits that he is criticized over are traits that get better over time, albeit slowly. At the same time, he is 23 and is getting his first minutes in over a year at Milan. That half season of Chelsea aside, he only had Championship experience to point to. There would be relevant reservations about a player, even a defender, blooming that late.

But one thing is for sure: Tomori’s swansong that started around New Year’s 2020 is coming to an end. It would be surprising to see him at Chelsea again. Milan may not bite, but someone will somewhere. And frankly, it will be good for the player to finally be settled somewhere for his own development.