Fikayo Tomori reflects on training with Zlatan as he prepares to return to Chelsea with AC Milan

“For me, it’s another chance to see some familiar faces to show how I have developed,” Tomori says before the Champions League group E game against Chelsea, the club where he spent 16 years developing from boy to man.

“I know people have watched the games [in Milan] but going back to Stamford Bridge, where it all started, is a chance to show myself.”

Tomori may feel the need to prove himself on numerous fronts. He returns to Chelsea for the first time since being pushed to the peripheries by Frank Lampard, the former manager; Lampard let him leave on loan for Milan, where he won the Serie A title as a key figure in central defence.

Such performances caught the eye of Gareth Southgate, the England manager, but Tomori watched on from the sidelines last month during the Nations League games against Italy at the San Siro and Germany at Wembley as Harry Maguire, the Manchester United captain dropped by his club, was picked ahead of him.

“I know now that I’m not quite there,” Tomori, 24, says. “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.”

Tomori and Southgate spoke about the aspects of his game that need addressing. “If I can improve on those things it will give me a better chance of being in the squad, being in the team,” he says. “I just have to carry on going. Whether winning Serie A counts towards it I don’t know but I just try to give my best on the pitch in every situation.”

Tomori’s message is measured. There is little sign of frustration and he even provides unprompted self-criticism of the way in which this campaign has begun.

“Coming off the back of winning Serie A, I was on a high and got into the squad for the Nations League. I played against Italy. That was a good time for me. But coming into this season I don’t think I have started this one as I would have wanted to. The team has been playing well, and I have been playing, but slowly I am getting back to the levels I know.

“With regard to England it is always an honour to be called up. When I am there I try to give my best and if I don’t play I have got to keep on trying to stay in the manager’s mind, whether that is in England training or in Milan on the pitch.”

The Italian city quickly felt like home for Tomori. Learning the language was a priority for the central defender, who spoke fluent Italian within 18 months, proving his confidence by recording broadcast interviews in the local tongue. “The language helps integrate me into the culture and into the team,” he says.

The great Italian defender Paolo Maldini, now Milan’s sporting director, hand-picked Tomori and he was recently described in these pages as “one of the keys” to their Scudetto win by Giorgio Chiellini. His confidence, so dented by those final months at Chelsea, has been repaired.

“Being part of this team and feeling like I’m needed and wanted is personally a positive,” he says. “It leads to me feeling more confident and comfortable since I’ve been here. The Serie A title was a big part of that.”

He hopes for many more. Tomori’s future lies with Milan after he signed a new five-year deal in the summer. “That signals how happy I am, how comfortable I am and where I see myself for the next few years,” he says. “The Premier League is the best league in the world but, right now, being at AC Milan and in Serie A, learning the trade as a defender, is where I’m comfortable and is what’s best for me.”

This is a league and nation synonymous with defending. Arrigo Sacchi, the legendary coach, recently described Italian football as having “a culture of deadlock” but Tomori certainly sees its positive influence on his game.

“I think I’m cleverer,” he says. “Being on the pitch more helps that, but little fouls or positioning yourself in a way that makes the striker think – those kinds of things have made me a bit cleverer [as has] defending [against] different kinds of players that are probably nastier.

“But obviously training with Zlatan [Ibrahimovic], you can’t really be too timid because if you are then he’ll score ten goals or whatever it is in training, so you have to be a bit tougher – nasty, in a sense.”

Stamford Bridge will therefore be introduced to a new Tomori tomorrow (Wednesday) night. He has been in the away dressing room before, having played against Chelsea while on loan at Derby County in 2018. “I did it at Derby but to do it for AC Milan on a Champions League night is a bit different,” he says.

A reunion awaits with Mason Mount, Reece James and Trevoh Chalobah, who were in the group Tomori grew up with in the Chelsea Academy (he joined aged seven). But they will put history aside. “Once you step over that white line and the first whistle goes, we’re not friends any more,” he says. “We’re trying to fight for the three points.”

– The Times

Originally published as Fikayo Tomori reflects on training with Zlatan as he prepares to return to Chelsea with AC Milan