New signing Fikayo Tomori has insisted that he did not join AC Milan ‘just to be a number’ and has the Scudetto firmly in his sights.
Tomori was Milan’s last addition of the January transfer window as he arrived from Chelsea on a six-month loan with an option to buy set at €28-30m, depending on which source you believe. He has already made a handful of appearances and has been impressive thus far, showing he has a completely different set of qualities to the other centre-backs in the squad.
Tomori spoke about his first weeks at the club in an interview with Skrill, a partner of the club.
“I came here to Milan not just to be a number within the team. I want to improve and help the team as much as possible in the fight for the title,” he said (via MilanNews).
On Zlatan Ibrahimovic: “He has been a world-class striker for 10-15 years. Having him on your team is a privilege. I like to train with him. The way he behaves, the pressure he puts on himself and the demand he places on other teammates, make him a top. I’m sure that by training against him all season, and seeing what he does against me, I will surely learn a few things.”
Tomori has made it clear in the past that his main career objective is to return to the England national team squad, having made his debut on 17 November 2019 but having not made an appearances since.
“Even if you play for one of the greatest clubs in the world, Chelsea or Milan, if you don’t do it well, you will not be selected in the national team. Now I want to play regularly because I want to be called up for the European Championships.”
Calciomercato.com recently reported that Milan have every intention of using their option to buy, and that they chose the Englishman because they strongly believe in his qualities and they are convinced he can become a starter.
On his future, Tomori added: “I think that in a situation like this that we are living in, I just have to be focused on myself, and focused on trying to do what I can. I’m sure that if I play well at Milan, the future will resolve itself. But now I’m focused only on this experience.”
Just a few days after he joined Milan, his parent club Chelsea changed managers, choosing to sack Frank Lampard in order to appoint the former PSG and Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel.
“I am grateful to Frank for what he said about me. I think I still have a long way to go before I can reach the status of ‘top player’ as he called me. Now at Chelsea there is Thomas Tuchel. I think he definitely has a great job to do. For now they are doing well as they are close to the minimum goal of fourth place. I’m sure they will be successful this season.”
