Chelsea have one of the best youth academies in the Premier League, with several of their young stars going out on loan to gain valuable experience in the Championship or lower leagues in England and across Europe. One youngster who had a stellar 2018-19 season was central defender Fikayo Tomori who was on loan at Derby County for the 2018-19 Championship season, under Frank Lampard, who currently manages Chelsea.
Standard have reported that the Chelsea management rate Tomori highly but want him to have another year out on loan, this time at a Premier League side. Let’s take a look at 3 potential Premier League destinations for him:
Burnley
Burnley were rumoured to be interested in signing Tomori a few weeks ago, with reports in The Sun suggesting that they could make a bid of around £15 million for the Canada-born defender. Burnley could lose England international James Tarkowski, who is a target for Leicester City as a possible replacement for Harry Maguire if the Englishman moves to Manchester United.
The Clarets could return with a loan bid for Tomori ahead of the 2019-20 season and offer him first-team opportunity.
Newcastle United
Newcastle United may not be the best club for a young player at the moment, with the Magpies going through a difficult phase, and a new manager in Steve Bruce appointed to replace Rafa Benitez. But, going on loan to a club like Newcastle United, which has vociferous support every week at St James’ Park could be very beneficial for a young player like Tomori.
The Magpies need reinforcements in various areas, including central defence due to various circumstances. Central defender Fabian Schar is a target for AC Milan, as per Calciomercato, while another central defender, Florian Lejeune, has been out since the end of last season due to injury. This means that the Magpies are left with just three first-team central defenders in captain Jamaal Lascelles, Federico Fernández, and Ciaran Clark, and the need for a backup central defender like Tomori.
Norwich City
Newly-promoted Norwich City have not splashed the cash in the transfer market ahead of their return to the Premier League and have decided to bring in players on loan and cheap transfer fees. The Canaries have four centre backs in their squad – captain Grant Hanley, who has played in the Premier League previously with Blackburn Rovers, Timm Klose, Christoph Zimmermann and Ben Godfrey who have all never played in the Premier League.
A player like Tomori could add depth to the squad and because it is a loan move, it wouldn’t need a huge financial package to bring the Chelsea player to Carrow Road.