Fikayo Tomori will have a point to prove on return to Chelsea with Milan

Fikayo Tomori is unlikely to be emotional when he returns to Stamford Bridge. Calm and collected is the best way of describing the Milan centre-back. The impression is of a young man who does not like to get carried away, who knows his development as a footballer is far from over, and with that mentality there is every chance Tomori will approach the challenge of facing Chelsea with the same gracefulness that has typified his performances for Milan.

At the same time Tomori will undoubtedly have a point to prove when he plays against his former club. From a wider perspective, it is a chance for Milan to lessen Chelsea’s hopes of making it out of their Champions League group. On a personal note it is an opportunity for Tomori on two fronts: to push his case for inclusion in England’s World Cup squad and to make Chelsea regret not fighting harder to keep him.

It did not have to be this way. In different circumstances Tomori easily could have been putting on a blue shirt and preparing to mark Olivier Giroud on Wednesday night. The irony is that the 24-year-old, who joined Milan on loan in January 2020, signed for them six months later and won Serie A last season, could have become a regular starter for Chelsea.

A lack of foresight has ended up costing Chelsea a lot of money. After Tomori was relegated to fifth-choice centre-back at the start of the 2020-21 season, forcing him to look for a fresh opportunity, the pathway soon looked clearer. Kurt Zouma was sold to West Ham in the summer of 2021 and Chelsea, having seemingly been in a position of strength, found themselves scrambling to sign centre-backs after losing Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rüdiger on free transfers this summer.

Yet Tomori, who rose through Chelsea’s