Serie A leaders AC Milan sign defender Tomori to ease their defensive problems; Frank Lampard insists Tomori still has a long-term future at the Chelsea club, saying: "It will be to absolutely enhance his personal development, he will come back to us a better player."
Friday 22 January 2021 21:53, UK
Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori has sealed his loan move to AC Milan until the end of the season.
The deal for the 23-year-old includes an option to buy, which would cost the Italian side £26.6m (€30m.)
Milan, who are top of Italy's Serie A, are in the midst of a defensive crisis and need Tomori to bolster their options at the back before their game against Atalanta at San Siro this weekend.
Tomori, a product of the Chelsea academy, has struggled for minutes in Frank Lampard's team this season, featuring just four times since the arrival of Thiago Silva as a free agent. The England international had played a bigger role in Lampard's first season in charge, making 22 appearances.
Chelsea boss Lampard is a big admirer of Tomori, who he took on loan in his previous job at Derby, and sees the 23-year-old in his long-term plans at Stamford Bridge.
"He absolutely has a long-term future at this club," Lampard said earlier this month.
"We'll see if or when he goes on loan but the moment I got close to Fikayo was when I took him to Derby with me and he was player of the year there and one of the best players in the Championship that year in my opinion.
"He came back here and played 20-plus games for us at a very young age last year and got in the England squad.
"In my head there is an absolute long-term plan for Fikayo about his career here. If it is to go and play games [on loan] it will be to absolutely enhance his personal development and hopefully help whatever team he goes to, because that will go hand in hand, and he will come back to us a better player."
Sky Sports News' Kaveh Solhekol on The Transfer Show:
"Chelsea have let Fikayo Tomori join AC Milan on loan with an option to buy so Milan can sign him in the summer. We understand that option is about €30m, which is about £26m.
"The reason I say it's strange is because Tomori was on loan at Derby when Frank Lampard was there and was player of the season. Then, Lampard became the Chelsea manager and Tomori came back to Chelsea, played regularly and was arguably the best centre-back at the club and scored one of the best goals of the season there.
"He got into the England squad, made his debut and everybody was eulogising about what a fantastic young defender he was. Then he got injured, lost his place and he hasn't really featured regularly since.
"Whenever Lampard has been asked about him, he's said he's a young player, he's still developing and he has a future at Chelsea. But then people will be asking 'if he has a future at Chelsea, why have you given AC Milan this option to sign him in the summer?'
"It's a dream move for him. Three months ago on Deadline Day, he turned down a loan move to West Ham and now he is going to the San Siro and joining AC Milan. He could win the Italian title, in three or four days' time, he could be playing in the Milan derby.
"So it's a fantastic move for him, but I know a lot of Chelsea supporters are confused about why they're letting him go when they believe he has more to offer the club than some of the other centre-backs in the squad. But Lampard makes the final decisions and he's said that Tomori still has a future at Chelsea.
"I'm just wondering if Chelsea are being a bit cute, because I wouldn't be surprised if Milan had €30m to spend on a defender in the summer. We all know the state of club finances, would they have that kind of money? So maybe Chelsea have set that option at quite a high figure because they know Milan won't be able to afford it and he'll come back."
Frank Lampard will lose his job as Chelsea manager unless results and performances improve immediately.
Lampard is under huge pressure following the 2-0 setback against Leicester City which saw them slip to eighth in the table. It constituted a fifth defeat in eight Premier League games.
After the game, the Blues boss defended his "transitional" Chelsea side's recent displays but admitted that his future at the club was out of his control.
Roman Abramovich may have to wait until the summer if he wants Julian Nagelsmann to be Chelsea's next permanent manager.
Nagelsmann's RB Leipzig side sit second in the Bundesliga and have made it clear they will not let their highly-rated young manager leave mid-season.
Leipzig entertain Liverpool next month in the Round of 16 in the Champions League and sit four points behind Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, believing they can land their first league title in the club's brief 11-year history.
Chelsea and the Red Bull organisation enjoy excellent relations, having traded Timo Werner and Ethan Ampadu in recent years.
Despite that, it remains unlikely that Leipzig's CEO Oliver Mintzlaff will sanction Nagelsmann's departure if Frank Lampard were to leave Stamford Bridge.
Leipzig, however, do have a ready-made replacement in Red Bull Salzburg's highly-rated boss Jesse Marsch.
