Club legend meets with Chelsea outcast in bid to persuade defender to make permanent transfer

Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on Tuesday provided a stark marker of the club’s progress in the past few years. 

While previous manager Frank Lampard had given the club’s youngsters plenty of chances, many people expected his successor Thomas Tuchel to opt for the more experienced players within his squad.

However, two of the club’s academy graduates – Mason Mount and Reece James – both started in Madrid on Tuesday and fans felt the Blues were unlucky not to have come away with victory.

With Callum Hudson-Odoi, Billy Gilmour and Tammy Abraham all also playing key roles in the first team over the past two seasons, the future looks bright at Stamford Bridge.

One youngster who has failed to make his mark in SW6, however, is Fikayo Tomori, and it appears that the defender’s future may well lie away from Stamford Bridge.

According to Sky Sports Italia, the 23-year-old, who has spent the past four months on loan at AC Milan, is being lined up for a permanent move to the Serie A giants.

The report says that Milan’s technical director, legendary centre-back Paolo Maldini, has had personal talks with Tomori in a bid to persuade him to stay in Italy.

Tomori has impressed at the heart of Milan’s defence.

Despite being something of a regular last term, Tomori featured just four times under Lampard during the first half of this season, and joined Milan in January.

Having impressed during his loan spell, Milan are keen to keep the England international but are reluctant to pay the £25 million fee that was included in the temporary deal as an option to buy clause.

Milan manager Stefan Pioli has spoken openly of his desire to keep Tomori beyond this summer, and it appears that they are in a commanding position to do so.

Tomori’s lack of playing time under Lampard was not well received by Blues fans, and a potential permanent transfer away from the club will likely be met with discontent by the Stamford Bridge faithful.