Oluwafikayomi Oluwadamilola "Fikayo" Tomori (born 19 December 1997) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for club

AC Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seaso ...

and the England national team. Born in Canada, he represents England at international level.

Early life

Tomori was born in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

, Canada, to Nigerian parents. Before the age of one, Tomori moved with his family to England where he was raised. He began playing for Riverview United in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

when he was six. Growing up, his footballing idol was

Thierry Henry Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach, pundit, and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. Considered one of the best strikers of all time and one of the best player ...

Club career

Chelsea

Youth career

Tomori joined the Chelsea Academy at under-eight level and progressed through the club's academy system. He was part of the Chelsea youth side which recorded back to back triumphs in both the

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the youth teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions League ...

and the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. I ...

in 2015 and 2016. On 11 May 2016, Tomori was named to the first-team substitute bench along with fellow academy players Tammy Abraham and

Kasey Palmer Kasey Remel Palmer (born 9 November 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Championship club Coventry City. Born in England, he represented England up to U21 level and currently represents the Jamaica national team. ...

, in Chelsea's 1–1 draw with

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

. However, he failed to make an appearance at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892 ...

. On 15 May, in Chelsea's final game of the 2015–16 season, Tomori made his debut in a 1–1 draw with

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

champions

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

, replacing

Branislav Ivanović Branislav Ivanović ( sr-Cyrl, Бранислав Ивановић, ; born 22 February 1984) is a Serbian former professional footballer. A versatile defender, Ivanović played as a right back, although he can also play as a centre back. Ivano ...

in the 60th minute. Although Tomori was included in the United States pre-season tour, he did not make a single appearance. On 1 August, Tomori signed a new four-year contract ahead of the 2016–17 season.

2017–2019: Loans to Championship clubs

On 23 January 2017, Tomori joined

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

for the remainder of the 2016–17 season. Five days later, Tomori made his Brighton debut in a 3–1 away defeat against

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

team Lincoln City in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

fourth round, in which he scored an own goal to give Lincoln the lead. On 18 February 2017, Tomori made his league debut for Brighton, in their 2–0 away victory against

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough ha ...

, replacing

Anthony Knockaert Anthony Patrick Knockaert (born 20 November 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a winger for EFL Championship side Huddersfield Town, on loan from side Fulham. Club career Guingamp Knockaert, who was born in Roubaix, began ...

in stoppage time of the second half. On 18 March 2017, Tomori was given his first start for Brighton in their 2–0 away defeat against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

, featuring for the entire 90 minutes. On 31 August 2017, Tomori joined Championship club

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

on a season long loan deal. He made his debut on 13 September 2017, in a 2–1 defeat away to

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswor ...

. On 6 August 2018, Tomori joined Championship club

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

on a season long loan. He made his debut on 11 August in a 4–1 loss against Leeds United. His time at the club saw him named the club's "Player of the Year".

2019–20 season: First-team breakthrough

On 31 August 2019, Tomori made his first start for Chelsea against

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

, which ended a 2–2 draw at Stamford Bridge. He scored his first goal for Chelsea on 14 September, opening the scoring with long-range curling shot from outside the

penalty area The penalty area or 18-yard box (also known less formally as the penalty box or simply box) is an area of an association football pitch. It is rectangular and extends 16.5m (18 yd) to each side of the goal and 16.5m (18 yd) in front of it. With ...

, in a 5–2 away win over

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club' ...

. He scored a header against former club Hull City to help Chelsea to a 2–1 win in the fourth round of the

at the KCOM Stadium on 25 January 2020.

AC Milan

On 22 January 2021, Tomori joined

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

club

on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season with an option to buy. Four days later, he made his debut in the

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

quarter-final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

against

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter i ...

in the

Derby della Madonnina The Derby della Madonnina, also known as the Derby di Milano (Milan Derby, in English), is a derby football match between the two prominent Milanese clubs, Internazionale and A.C. Milan. It is called ''Derby della Madonnina'' in honour of one ...

, coming on as a substitute for the injured

Simon Kjær Simon Thorup Kjær (born 26 March 1989) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club AC Milan and captains the Denmark national team. He was named 2007 Danish under-19 talent of the year and 2009 Danish Talent of t ...

in a 2–1 away defeat. On 9 May, Tomori scored his first goal for Milan in a 3–0 away league win over

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in ...

. Tomori became the first Englishman to score for Milan since

David Beckham David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending ...

in 2009 and it was the club's first away win against Juventus in the league since March 2011. On 17 June 2021, Tomori signed a permanent deal with Milan until 30 June 2025, after the club exercised their £25m buy option from his previous loan. He scored his first goal of the season on 7 December, against Liverpool in a Champions League match which Milan lost 2–1. With his teammate Simon Kjær out of action for the remainder of the season due to injury, Tomori became a regular in the starting line-up. On 12 March 2022, as Milan won 1–0 against

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...

, they managed to secure two clean sheets in a row for the first time in 2022, courtesy of Tomori partnering in defence with Pierre Kalulu. On 12 August 2022, Tomori signed a new contract with Milan until June 2027. On 8 March 2023, he was named man of the match in the Champions League round of 16 second leg away match against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

, which ended in a 0–0 draw and qualification to the quarter-final for the first time in eleven years for Milan, by winning 1–0 on aggregate.

International career

Tomori was eligible to represent Nigeria at international level through his parents, Canada through his birth in Calgary, and England through having lived in the country since he was a child.

Canada

On 27 March 2016, Tomori captained Canada U20 to a 2–1 victory over England U20 on his third appearance for the nation.

England

Youth

On 16 May 2016, in the next international break and a day after making his professional club debut, Tomori was called up to the England U19 squad. On 4 June, Tomori made his England U19 debut in a 2–0 defeat against Mexico U20s, playing the full 90 minutes. Tomori was also part of the England

2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 15th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship (65th edition if the Under-18 and Junior eras are included), the annual European international youth football championship contested by the ...

squad which reached the semi-finals before being knocked out by

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Tomori was selected for the England under-20 team in the

2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 21st edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 ...

. Tomori however scored an own goal in England's second group game against Guinea. Nevertheless, Tomori would help England beat Venezuela in the final 1–0, which was England's first win in a global tournament since their World Cup victory of 1966. On 27 May 2019, Tomori was included in England's 23-man squad for the

2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2019) was the 22nd edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (25th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth football ch ...

Senior

On 3 October 2019, Tomori received his first call-up to the England senior squad for forthcoming Euro 2020 qualifying matches. He later said he was committed to playing for England, following interest from Nigeria and Canada; he had previously represented Canada at youth level. Tomori made his debut for England on 17 November against

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a international recognition of Kosovo, partiall ...

in a Euro 2020 qualifier. He was not selected for the World Cup 2022 squad.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Chelsea Youth *

: 2014–15, 2015–16 *

: 2014–15, 2015–16 Chelsea *

runner-up: 2019–20 AC Milan *

: 2021–22 England U20 *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 whe ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

England U21 *

Toulon Tournament The Toulon Tournament (officially the Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) is a football (training match) tournament, which traditionally features invited national teams composed of youth players from U-17 to U-23 level. ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Individual *

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and England ...

Team of the Tournament:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

* Chelsea Academy Player of the Year: 2016 *

Player of the Year: 2018–19 * Chelsea Goal of the Year: 2019–20 * Serie A Team of the Year: 2021–22

References

External links

Profile
at the AC Milan website *
Profile
at the Football Association website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tomori, Fikayo 1997 births Living people Soccer players from Calgary Canadian men's soccer players English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Chelsea F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Derby County F.C. players AC Milan players Premier League players English Football League players Serie A players Canada men's youth international soccer players England men's youth international footballers England men's under-21 international footballers England men's international footballers English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy English expatriate sportspeople in Italy Black Canadian men's soccer players Black British sportsmen Canadian sportspeople of Nigerian descent English sportspeople of Nigerian descent Canadian emigrants to England