Fikayo Tomori revealed he encouraged Tammy Abraham to join Roma and he praised Milan for their reaction to the racist abuse he suffered.
The 24-year-old Englishman joined Milan in January 2021 on loan from Chelsea and immediately made a strong impression. His six-month spell was convincing enough for the Rossoneri to pay €28m in the summer to make his stay permanent, and so far this is proving to be a smart piece of business.
Speaking to The Guardian, Tomori first discussed the now-famous interview where he spoke Italian.
“I always saw myself one day living in another country, whether that was for football or just in life. I always wanted to learn a new language.
“At home, my parents were from Nigeria, so they spoke Yoruba to me, and obviously at school you learn languages, but I came to Italy determined to learn Italian. Even if I was only going to be here on loan six months, I wanted to at least be able to know the present tense.”
He then compared the styles of football seen in the Premier League and Serie A.
“In England, it’s more like basketball. Everything’s end-to-end, there’s more intensity, a lot more happens reactively. In Italy it’s more like American football. It’s like you have ‘plays’.
“When the ball’s here, I need to be here. When the ball goes, I know I have to be two metres over in that direction, or be looking for this particular player.
“In England it’s very much off the cuff and things happen so fast. You can be attacking one minute and the next the ball’s flipped over your head and you’ve got to run back 30 yards, then you’re back on the attack.
“Here it’s more like: ‘OK, the ball’s there, where’s my teammate? Where’s the opposition?’ If the ball goes over the top I need to be in a position where I can leave the striker and get there, but if the ball goes into feet I’m in a position to go press.”
He revealed that director Paolo Maldini still gives some tips to the players.
“The other day he was talking to us about the speed of the ball moving through the back and how to work on our body position. As defenders, you want to make sure you’re impressing him.”
Tomori commented on the lack of a call up to the England national team.
“There’s just so many talented players in my position already – Maguire, Stones, Coady, Mings, White at Arsenal – and there’s a limited amount of positions.
“I just have to make sure I’m playing at a high level. And then when I do get called on, to make sure I’m ready. I have to focus on what I’m doing here at Milan first and foremost.”
The Englishman confirmed that he recommended the Roma move to Tammy Abraham last year.
“When he said Roma was on the table, I said: ‘Bro this is a good league’, I felt like it would develop his game a lot.
“He has scored a lot of goals this season for Roma, they’re fighting for a Champions League spot. Definitely it’s helped him and definitely I gave him rave reviews about Serie A because I enjoyed myself so much the first six months.”
He discussed the racist abuse he and Mike Maignan suffered during Milan’s win over Cagliari recently.
“Obviously that was not a good moment. But all the players helped me to get away from the situation. Everyone knew what was going on. I spoke to the referee and since then everyone’s been very supportive and tried to give me as much support as possible, which was great.
“The steps to try and stop this is what we need to do next. It was a sad moment for me and Mike as well but the club were very supportive and they gave a reaction to it very quickly.”
The Milan defender commented on social media’s failures to limit racist abuse on their platforms.
“You could make a foul, concede a penalty, anything, and by the time you get back in the changing room, you’ve got a thousand messages from nobody.
“People who make a fake account, people who know they can say this without having any consequences, feel like they’re untouchable, whatever it may be. Social media companies should be able to do more to curtail what’s happening.”
He discussed Milan’s Champions League group stage exit this season.
“I think there’s cycles in football. Before it was Real Madrid, Barcelona, then it was Bayern Munich, then it was the English teams. I don’t think it’s a specific correlation between Italian football and not doing well in the Champions League.
“For a lot of players in our team this season was their first experience of Champions League football. And we didn’t have an easy group.”
Finally, Tomori spoke about Stefano Pioli’s mother still reminds him that he’s never won a trophy in senior football and the title race this season.
“I wouldn’t say my parents give me a hard time like that! But it’s obviously something they want me to do, they want me to have a successful career.
“We’re in a good position but we’re taking it game by game. Hopefully at the end we have something to celebrate, and the manager’s mum can let him rest.”
Interview: @fikayotomori_ ‘In Italy, the game is more like American football’ | By @NickyBandini https://t.co/ptF3vsrz7A
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) March 26, 2022
Been saying EPL is like basketball for years. LIttle thought, lots of running.
Really like this guy. Seems to have a good head on his shoulders.