Fikayo Tomori is enjoying his time in Italy, receiving praise from footballing legend Paolo Maldini and following in the footsteps of Thiago Silva in less than two years. The former Chelsea defender has proven himself to be one of the best centre-backs in Serie A since his move to AC Milan in 2021. Initially on loan, the club made the move permanent two years ago. Maldini, who is technical director at the reigning Italian champions, has spoken highly of Tomori, and the respect is mutual, with Tomori claiming that Maldini and other AC Milan legends were one of the main reasons he decided to make the move.
Tomori spoke to The Times in 2021 about his conversation with Maldini before making the move to Italy. He said that he knew it was a big club, but when he arrived and saw all the Ballons d’Ors, pictures of the greats who have gone before, and the seven Champions League trophies, he felt it. Tomori also mentioned that he feels pride when he sees the pictures and names on the wall of people who have set records, like Andriy Shevchenko, Kaka, Maldini, and Clarence Seedorf.
AC Milan fans had been waiting for someone to come in and finally replace some of their heroes from the 2010/11 team. It had been 11 years of heartache for the Rossoneri supporters, who had been yearning for a Scudetto win. Last season, it finally happened, with fans making comparisons between players in their current squad and that title-winning team from over a decade ago. Sandro Tonali is the Andrea Pirlo, Brahim Diaz is the Robinho, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Comparisons have also been made between Tomori and Thiago Silva, who played a vital part in Milan’s last league win, just as Tomori did last season. Silva played more minutes for Milan than any other outfield player during their 2010/11 Serie A title-winning season – something which Tomori also did last campaign. Tomori’s calmness on the ball, pace, strength, and reading of the game is why those Silva parallels have been made, along with the fact he is adored by the Milan fans.
Tomori played against Silva in the group stage of this season’s Champions League, with Chelsea coming out on top twice and Tomori being sent off in the second meeting. However, despite his ruined homecoming, Milan still managed to make it through the group and they now face Tottenham in the round of 16. If the Italian giants are to continue their journey in Europe, Tomori will be nearing one of his career goals.
Tomori’s dream in life is to not have any regrets. He wants to be able to say at the end of it that he did everything he could and in the right way. He dreams of winning the Champions League, World Cup, Scudetto again, and every trophy possible with Milan as long as he’s there.
AC Milan meets Tottenham tonight for a place in the quarter-finals, and Tomori will be hoping he can move closer to achieving his dream.