Fikayo Tomori has joined AC Milan on a permanent deal after the club agreed to pay the transfer clause of 24M euros. He had a successful season with the Rossoneri since joining the club in January on a loan from Chelsea. The central defender impressed a lot in these five months for AC Milan. His form convinced manager Stefano Pioli to make a move to sign Tomori on a permanent deal.
Tomori joins AC Milan at €25M+ €5M addons. The 23-year-old has reportedly signed a five-year deal with the club.
According to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, Fikayo Tomori joined on a five-year deal after his transfer clause was triggered.
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Stefano Pioli and Paolo Maldini both wanted to sign Fikayo Tomori on a permanent deal
Stefano Pioli was also backed by Milan’s director Paulo Maldini to complete the deal.
“As much as I’m playing for myself and for the team and the manager, I want to impress him”, Fikayo Tomori told The Times in March.
“It’s like if you were an attacker and one day Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi was your sporting director and saying these words for you. It’s crazy “.
Maldini played a huge role in Tomori’s transformation in these five months. It is also said that Maldini spoke to the defender before and after every match. The player was one of the reasons why Milan ended 2nd in the league. That marked the entry of AC Milan in The Champions League next season. Tomori had a wonderful season in Serie A alongside Denmark’s central back Simon Kjaer.
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Stefano Pioli said about Tomori Last month: ”We want to buy Fikayo Tomori on a permanent deal from Chelsea. Our intention is clear and also Fikayo’s decision (staying at Milan)”.
“We’ll see what happens at the end of the season”.
The Athletic, had reported yesterday that the player is on the verge of joining Milan and his move will be official in the next 24 hours. It turned out to be true.
Besides Fikayo Tomori, Milan is also eyeing Chelsea’s Hakim Ziyech and Oliver Giroud for a potential move to San Siro from London. The Chelsea boss is also considering the transfer of Saul Niguez from Atletico Madrid this summer. The midfielder could very well fit into his squad alongside N’Golo Kante.
Tomori joined Chelsea at the age of 8 through the club’s academy system. He was part of the Chelsea youth side which recorded back to back triumphs in both the UEFA Youth League and the FA Youth Cup in 2015 and 2016. He lacked in game time under the former Chelsea boss Frank Lampard. He debuted for Chelsea in 2015. Since then, he scored one goal in 17 appearances for the club, 15 of which came under Frank Lampard. However, he failed to impress Frank Lampard in the 2019-20 season.
It is always a blow to lose an academy boy when the foundation of the squad should be academy talent as that enables the club to only spend money on elite signings. Although Tuchel has enough defenders to cover for his loss.
That marks an end to Fikayo Tomoris’s 16-year long journey with the club.
