The story of Fikayo Tomori’s rise as a player is somewhat a fairy tale and the absolute dream come true for any young person striving to make a career in football.
He was born in Canada and actually represented them at youth level. In 2005 at the age of just 7, he joined the Chelsea academy and his dream began.
Fast forward 14 years and he has just earned his first senior England call up and is now one of the first defenders Frank Lampard writes on his Chelsea team sheet.
Many had doubted that he had the ability to make it at Chelsea, even this summer he was deemed as not good enough by some. But he’s continuing to prove many wrong.
He had loan spells at Brighton and Hull before joining Lampard’s Derby County last season, and it was here where people really started to recognise that they might really have a talent on their hands here.
Under Lampard he absolutely shone, and even got named the Derby County player of the season.
Speaking to the Chelsea website, Lampard has was asked about Tomori’s England call up.
He said:
“Rightly so, Mason and Tammy have taken a lot of the headlines this season so I am absolutely delighted for Fikayo.
“Seeing him at Derby last year, he turned up as a quiet lad, there were loads of great talent in him but slightly raw.
“He had had a loan at Hull which was so-so and then to see him play the full season last year, I relied on him hugely.
“Then he came here when some people would have easily doubted whether he would step up to the Premier League because he is young, yet he has shown great quality.
“The England squad is another natural progression and I am really pleased with him because he deserves it and he has been a dream to work with day in day out for the last 15 months or so.
“It is all up to him now whether he gets in the England team but he has made the step of being in the squad.
“Gareth wants to see him close up, wants to see him train. Steve Holland [England assistant and former Chelsea coach] knows him well so now it is in Fikayo’s hands to go there and show what he shows us every day.”
