AC Milan’s decision to reward young English defender Fikayo Tomori with a new five-year contract at the San Siro has only highlighted Chelsea’s mishaps further with their centre-back crisis descending upon critical with just weeks to go in the market.
Tomori came through the ranks at Cobham from the age of eight after moving to London from Canada, and instantly impressed bosses at the Blues with a Premier League appearance in 2015-16.
Loans spells at Brighton, Hull and Derby followed as Tomori continued to make a name for himself in the Championship before Frank Lampard gave him his first-team opportunity at Stamford Bridge after being named as manager in 2019.
The Edmonton-born star showed he could cut it with the world’s elite, although Lampard’s sacking gave way to Thomas Tuchel freezing him out from the picture, where a loan move to Milan followed suit.
And with the Rossoneri activating his option-to-buy clause, Tomori stayed at the current Serie A champions on a four-year deal running to 2025.
That has now been extended to 2027 with an increased wage according to The Times, who state that the club were fearful he could leave in a similar fashion to Franck Kessie, who has joined Barcelona for free this summer.
After winning the league in his first permanent season at the Italian giants, the three-time England international is set to enjoy a lucrative career abroad and force his way into Gareth Southgate’s plans.
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And with an increased salary, trophies and a place to play, it highlights Chelsea have messed up in a scenario where they are desperate for a young centre-back to strut their stuff at Stamford Bridge given that the ageing Thiago Silva and Cesar Azpilicueta are coming to the end of their careers.
Typical Chelsea shenanigans. Find the best young talent. Train them….and never give them a chance to break through in the first team….only to have them become frustrated at the lack of playtime, request a loan/transfer….. and reach their full potential elsewhere. The list of these players is endless, it seems. (De Brunye, Salah, Tomori, and Abraham to name a few) …. and then we give the younger players a chance to play every other game to see how well they do. It’s doubtful that they will win the league this year with how strong Man City is, so why not let the younger players have a go for multiple games in a row? I’m beginning to question Tuchel’s ability to manage younger player expectations with the way he rotates.