Having called Chelsea home since the age of seven, Fikayo Tomori is well versed in club legend. The influence of Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and, certainly within the academy setup, Jody Morris is ingrained in the corridors at Cobham. These days Tomori, much as it is hard for him to believe, has one of those as a teammate, another as his manager and the other as a coach at Derby County, where the defender has been thriving on a season’s loan.
Along with Harry Wilson, the Liverpool winger, and Mason Mount, the midfielder also borrowed from Chelsea, the centre-back is at the heart of a vibrant Derby team. He and Mount are part of a 41-strong army of Chelsea players whose development is overseen by the loan coaches Eddie Newton, Paulo Ferreira and Tore Andre Flo.
The 21-year-old has enjoyed an outstanding campaign, helping Derby to the play-offs, in which they host Leeds in their semi-final first leg on Saturday, and picking up the club’s player of the season award. Three other Chelsea loanees have also won such a prize: Michael Hector at Sheffield Wednesday, Reece James at Wigan and Nathan Baxter at Yeovil.
Mount’s performances earned him a call to the England squad in October and Tammy Abraham, with whom Tomori has played since being in the under-8s at Chelsea, became the first Aston Villa player to score 25 league goals in a season since Andy Gray in 1976-77. Tomas Kalas and Jay Dasilva equally shone, at Bristol City. The WhatsApp group for loan players to communicate and liaise with staff has been a hive of activity.
“They talk about what is going to happen or congratulate players if they have won man of the match, player of the month or whatever it is,” Tomori says. “Everyone congratulates each other when it’s their birthday and stuff like that. It keeps everyone connected so you don’t feel you’re isolated from the club. It’s a good group, full of players all wanting the same thing and we all motivate each other.
“They [staff] talk on the group chat and personally with each player, and they come to visit us as well. Chelsea has always produced good players. Sometimes it doesn’t work out for whatever reason. For yourself you’ve got to do well and show Chelsea how good you really are.”
With a two-window Fifa transfer ban looming, does Tomori – whose sole first-team appearance in a Chelsea shirt came in 2016 – sense a clearer pathway? “I think no matter what the situation is at Chelsea, it’s always going to be difficult to break in,” he says. “You have to be on top of your game all of the time to get in.
“There are players out on loan like Kurt Zouma, Jake Clarke-Salter as well, Kalas, so many great players in my position and everyone is vying for that same spot. Whatever the circumstances, it’s going to be difficult but you just have to try and do your best to make an impression. I’ve not tried to think about it too much – I’ve been focused on what’s happening here. We have a good chance to get in the Premier League and make some history.”
At Derby he has enjoyed working with Lampard and Morris, his former under-16s coach at Chelsea who is assistant manager. “When a Chelsea legend wants to have you in his team it is hard to turn that down,” he says of Lampard. “You can see the way his mind works, the way he thinks about the game and that he has played at a really high level. And because the manager and Jody played at such a high level, they have high standards for themselves and high standards for the team, as do we, and I think that comes through on the pitch.”
As for Cole, Tomori admits he never envisaged playing alongside the 38-year-old, who joined Derby in January. “When I was first getting into football he was at Arsenal, and then at Chelsea, and all the way through he was the best left‑back in the world. And now he is my teammate.”
Tomori, who was born in Canada but moved to England before his first birthday, has earned his stripes in the Championship, this is his third loan after spells at Brighton and Hull. He lifted the Under-20 World Cup two years ago and this season has impressed in the League Cup against his parent club at Stamford Bridge, as well as at Old Trafford, where Derby pulled off a penalty shootout victory that his father, Yinka, celebrated by jumping up and down in the living room. “Luckily, my sister managed to get it on camera.”
Derby, after losing the play-off final to Queens Park Rangers in 2014 and being defeated in two semi‑finals since, are determined to shake their nearly-men tag and return to the Premier League after 11 years. If they prevail against Leeds, a date with Villa and a duel with Abraham would be destiny.
“It was so funny,” Tomori says, breaking into a broad grin. “It was the October or November international break, we were talking and saying: ‘Imagine if we play each other in the play-off final.’ Now seven months later it is a possibility. We have pretty much shared this journey together; we talk about it a lot and sometimes we sit back and reminisce. We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves but, if it happens, the friendship is out the window.”
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