Corriere dello Sport is reporting that AC Milan are showing interest in making the loan move of Fikayo Tomori from Chelsea permanent. This comes as no surprise as Tomori has been superb in his short time at the San Siro.
Fikayo Tomori: AC Milan Considering Permanent Move
Why Milan Want to Sign Tomori Permanently
Tomori has been nothing short of brilliant. He brought back life to a defence that began to lose its potency after the season’s strong start.
A major factor of this has been the decline of Alessio Romagnoli. It’s hard to keep him out of the line-up due to him being captain, but Milan manager Stefano Pioli already benched him in favour of Tomori before. This also came in a vital match against Roma. With this being said, Romagnoli is 26-years-old. He still has a long future ahead of him. His form will come back, and ideally alongside Tomori.
Milan’s best centre-back this season has been Simon Kjaer. He’s a rock in defence and a veteran leader. Unlike Romagnoli, age isn’t on his side. Kjaer is still in his prime at 31-years-old, but that’s when most players begin to slowly decline. That hasn’t been the case with Kjaer yet, but an internal move to find his successor is ideal.
Milan’s option to buy Tomori from Chelsea is at €28 million, which isn’t a cheap price for a team still recovering financially, but it’s a move worth making. Tomori is only 23-years-old and blossoming into a star in Italy. The Rossoneri must make it their priority to keep him.
Chelsea Options
It’s hard to envision Chelsea giving Milan a discounted price. If Milan don’t swoop on Tomori’s option, there are plenty of other teams that can afford it. It’s important to remember that even though Milan have a big name, they’re still not in an ideal financial situation.
Chelsea can also keep Tomori if Milan won’t trigger the option. Tomori is a product of their youth system, so it would make sense. With that being said, Chelsea have been excellent defensively since hiring Thomas Tuchel. Perhaps they would not want to mess with a system that’s working.
Also, the Blues already have a strong crop of centre-backs. These include Thiago Silva, Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rüdiger, Cesar Azpilicueta, and Kurt Zouma. Silva and Azpilicueta are up there in age, but still strong options. Tomori may very well be lost in the shuffle if he returned.
Their best bet is for Milan to trigger the option so that Tuchel has more money in his war chest to spend during the next transfer window.
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