After a long drawn saga, Mila got their man Fikayo Tomori from Chelsea for a 6 month loan with an option to buy at £25M . Here is the reason why Milan went after the player.
BACKGROUND
Oluwafikayomi Oluwadamilola Tomori was born in Calgary (Canada) to Nigerian parents before they headed to England when he was a toddler. A defender by profession, Tomori is a product of the famous Cobham Academy (Chelsea youth team). Tomori, alongwith fellow graduates Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham, Loftus Cheek, Andreas Christensen were part of the success that Chelsea Youth academy has enjoyed in the start of the decade. Chelsea in his tenure in the youth set up, won 2 Youth F.A. Cup’s and the recently formed UEFA Youth League twice making Chelsea the most successful team in the short history of the cup. They won the 2014-15 edition beating Shaktaar Donetsk in which Tomori did not feature in the final but was an integral part of Chelsea’s triumph in the 2015-16. Another personal milestone was achieved in the 2015-16 season when he came on vs then champions Leicester City in the Premier League making his full senior team debut.
One of the most competitive squad in the PL that is known to make or break players’ careers (Lukaku, KDB, Salah), the management was wise to the situation that Tomori would not even get a sniff in the team if he stayed. In 2017 January Tomori was loaned to Brighton for 6 months and Hully City in 2017/18 racking up a total of 36 games combined for both clubs
His big break came when Lampard was appointed the coach of Derby County. Lampard used his relations with Chelsea to loan Tomori, Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount. Tomori played 55 times for Derby in the 2018/19 season, took Derby to play-off finals and was rightfully named Derby’s player of the season.
Good news beckoned for Tomori when lampard was appointed the coach of Chelsea after Chelsea were handed a transfer ban by FIFA. Tomori got his chance as early as against Liverpool coming on after Chriseten and Rudiger were injured. His performace against Salah keeping a tight check on one of the best players in Europe earned plaudits for the youngster. However in a bizarre turn of events Tomori has only played 45 mins this season in the Premier League with the Center-back being relegated to a 5th choice CB with no rhyme or reason from ex-Chelsea manager Frank Lampard.
STYLE OF PLAY
Lampard had used a variety of formations for Chelsea last season alternating between a back 3 and back 4 formation. Tomori often slot into the team partnering Kourt Zouma and Cesar Azpilicueta in a back 3 formation.
Recovery pace
In modern football, Recovery pace is the prime requisite for a top defender. With teams always looking to press high, managers need their backline to maintain a high line and this makes them susceptible to counter-attacks. Tomori’s prime strength is his pace which could make one thing that Tomori could even play as a full back or a winger. This attribute enables him to track the runs of even the quickest wingers and forward players and get to loose balls first before the opposition player
Aggressive Defending and Pressing
Tomori’s natural instinct is to be pro-active in defending which is to stop attacks at its embryonic stages before the opposition can get the ball into dangerous areas. Often he leaves his station and challenges the player in possession which manifests into 2 advantages if a turnover occues. Advantage 1 being that the attack gets killed before it advances and Advantage 2 being that it helps to start a possible counter-attack
1v1 Defending
A legend of the game himself, Maldini in an interview spoke about how modern defenders need to be good in 1v1 against their attackers along with physical ability as this is a skill that cannot be taught but is in-born talent. Tomori with quick feet has a good 1v1 success ratio, not shy going into challenges and often coming out with the ball against some elite attackers
Positioning and Interceptions
A very important skill for defenders, if attacks advance, is to position themselves in the right areas to stifle any shots or any runs the opposition can muster. For this anticipation is a virtue that defenders need. Tomori tho has a very good knack of getting into good positons as we saw against the Coppa italia game against Inter where he was in the right place at the right time clearing off the line and later stopping a goal bound shot from Lukaku.
Tomori has the ability to read contextual clues such as body orientation of the passer, reading passing moves and has great tactical awareness to guess what the next move of the opposition will be.
AREAS TO IMPROVE
Like every prospect Tomori has a few creases to iron out on in his game.
Aerials Duals
Tomori is built at 185 centimeters height and therefore is not aerially dominant in there which is a deficit to his repertoire. While he has a good leap and heads the ball away he is not the tallest when defending set-pieces or while attacking the ball during a corner kick won. Pioli and Murelli will need to work with Tomori in the training field.
Timing
Tomori’s aggressiveness comes at a cost. If he does not win the ball back from the player he is pressing then it compromises the shape and structure of his defense and leaves space behind which can be attacked with an expert #10 or a good winger. Tomori needs to time his aggressive press better and not expose his backline. I believe playing alongside a more experienced Center-back like Alessio or Kjaer can help Tomori work on this flaw. But first Tomori needs to bridge the communication gap.
Passing out from the back
Modern defenders are expected to be good passers along with being a good defender. This is because modern tactics involve playing out from the back which requires shifting the ball quickly before the opponents closes down the defender which can lead to a very straight chance for the opposition. Tomori is not the best passer of the ball and makes errors when he is put under pressure by the opponent. At Chelsea Lampard would have Jorginho or Kovacic to play closer to Tomori and have the Deep lying playmaker bring the ball out from the back rather than cause a turnover by having Tomori play a risky pass.
DEAL OR NO DEAL
Ever since Milan signed Romagnoli as a young prospective center-back Milan have tried a variety of player to partner with him until Simon Kjaer settled in. However with Kjaer into his 30’s Milan have been actively searching for a young center-back. Milan were out priced for Fofana, pulled out of the Simakan race for unknown reasons and showed interest in Loic Bade and Ozan Kabak. However, as Maldini mentioned later Milan had been tracking Tomori’s progress for a year and while a deal was not easy to conclude Milan finally got their man on favorable terms.
Tomori, as revealed to Milan TV, jumped at the opportunity to work under Maldini and for Milan who have been doing very well in the league. Tomori fit Maldini’s description in what he wants in a defender. Fast, direct, aggressive, good on 1v1, the perfect player.
With Milan taking a 6 month loan with a 25M option to buy Milan always have the option of sending him back if he does not fall within the plans of Pioli.
TRANSFER RATING: 7.5/10
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