Fikayo Tomori admits he has a point to prove on his return to Chelsea in the Champions League with Milan following a tough spell on international duty with England.
The 24-year-old has enjoyed regular game time at San Siro since leaving London in 2021, helping the Rossoneri win the 2021/22 Serie A title after falling out of favour at Stamford Bridge.
However, his form has not yet convinced Gareth Southgate to make him a regular part of the Three Lions’ starting XI, having only made three appearances for the national side. He got no minutes in the recent international break, with Southgate continuing to show faith in the out of form Harry Maguire.
Tomori said: “Every footballer has a point to prove. Coming from Chelsea and being English, there is probably added motivation. I will maybe play differently. There is pressure every game. Pressure to win and pressure to perform for every single player.”
On not getting any minutes with England, he added: “Yeah, obviously every player wants to play and you want to be involved but it’s an honour for me to be selected. I know now that I’m not quite there, I’ve still got some stuff to do to get myself in the frame to be there for the World Cup, so hopefully I can do that.
“There are a lot of games between now and then for me to try and get in that squad or, hopefully, be in a position where I can get some minutes on the pitch as well.
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“There are things in Milan where the manager wants me to be in certain positions or do certain things that I need to try and remember to do on the pitch and work on off the pitch to make myself a better player and to try and be better in the structure of the team. Those things I spoke to Gareth about and he agreed, so I know I have to try and improve those things and, from there, we will see what happens.”
Milan currently top Group E with four points from their opening two games, while Chelsea are bottom after defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in Thomas Tuchel’s last game as Blues manager and a draw with Salzburg in Graham Potter’s first.
Credit: 90min.com