Fikayo Tomori (Image credit: Google)
According to Italian journalist and transfer expert Fabrizio Romano (h/t Daily Mail), AC Milan want to sign Chelsea defender, Fikayo Tomori, on a permanent deal. The defender was loaned to the Italian side in January. And the Italian side are impressed with him to the extent that they now want to make his move permanent.
The Blues will make around £25million with the sale of the centre-back to the Serie A side. With Milan looking all set to land Tomori, Thomas Tuchel should reconsider letting the defender leave and convince him to return to Stamford Bridge. We find out why.
Chelsea are not having a lot of centre-backs that they can afford to let someone like Tomori leave. The Premier League club did extend Thiago Silva’s deal by a year, but he will be 37 by the end of next season. Apart from that, Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen, Cesar Azpilicueta and Kurt Zouma are the only senior centre-backs who played for the club last season.
With Tuchel playing a three-at-the-back formation, they would want more natural centre-backs. Azpilicueta has historically been a full-back who has had to play centre-back recently. And not to mention, Christensen, Rudiger, and Azpilicueta are in the last 12 months of their contracts.
In such a situation, the Blues could risk losing them on free transfers if they don’t renew their deals. With Tomori already available, Tuchel should see the Englishman as a solution.
The Chelsea defence, most of who would be out of contract soon, are also not the youngest. Azpilicueta and Silva would be 32 and 37 respectively at the end of this year while Rudiger is already 28. Tomori, on the other hand, is 23 and younger than all the 5 names mentioned above.
It’s not like he is a slouch in defence too. Milan, with Tomori, finished the season strong with 5 clean sheets in a row and made the top 4. And he was so impressive that his teammate, Ante Rebic, even questioned Gareth Southgate’s decision to not call him up for the Euros.
“Honestly, I am a bit surprised because, from their choice of centre-halves, they all seem to have the same characteristics Fik is aggressive and fast. We talked and he said that he didn’t believe he was going to be called up. So I’m a bit surprised.”
Chelsea have been linked with PSG’s Marquinhos. But the question then arises, why are Chelsea rushing to buy a defender in the summer when they have a potential solution in Tomori – a player really admired by a giant team in AC Milan?
They wouldn’t have to pay a penny for Tomori and he can, at least for a season, give them a very sturdy option in defence. Until then, the Blues can figure out if they want to buy a top defender to replace the outgoing centre-backs next summer, if any.
