Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori were practically inseparable as kids coming through the academy at Chelsea, but tonight they will meet as rivals.
La Gazzetta dello Sport talks about the potential all-English battle during Roma versus Milan this evening, which does however bank on the possibility that Abraham is able to convince Mourinho to give him a start.
It will be the sixth time that Tammy and Fikayo will face each other. The pair grew up together at Chelsea, who they both joined at the age of seven back in 2003, with the pair part of the Under 8s.
They then made the whole journey through the youth teams, seeing champions of the calibre of Drogba, Shevchenko, Terry and Lampard parade in front of them, and winning the Youth League twice.
They made their respective Premier League debuts almost simultaneously. Back in 2016 Abraham played at Anfield against Liverpool, then four days later Tomori got a game at Stamford Bridge against Leicester).
“I know Tammy like the back of my hand. To me he is like a brother,” Tomori said some time ago, showing just how strong the bond between them is.
The first time they faced each other was six years ago in 2017 when Tomori was at Brighton and Abraham on loan at Bristol City, while the most recent occasion was on January 8 at San Siro when Roma stole a point in a 2-2 draw.
Away from the field the pair speak to each other almost every day, sometimes with a phone call and sometimes with a text message. The two often go on vacation together, but today things will be different as they have their colours to represent.
