Fikayo Tomori was named Player of the Match by UEFA for his performance in Milan’s Champions League decider against Tottenham, sending a clear message to England coach Gareth Southgate ahead of the upcoming match against Italy.
The Rossoneri made the last eight of the competition for the first time in over a decade thanks to the 0-0 draw at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
From his smothering blocks to denying Dejan Kulusevski, to his robust challenges on Harry Kane, Tomori was instrumental in ensuring Milan left North London with last night’s tie-deciding clean sheet.
The 25-year-old was back on home soil for the first time since the disappointing 3-0 loss to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge during the group stages in October.
Tomori was also sent off against his former employers in the return leg at San Siro the following week in the eventual 2-0 defeat, a performance which drew widespread criticism from the Italian and English press alike.
Performances in Serie A, especially whilst playing alongside Malick Thiaw and Pierre Kalulu in Stefano Pioli’s back three, have improved a great deal in recent weeks.
The return of Mike Maignan, who missed 18 matches for Milan following the calf injury he sustained in October, has also provided an enormous boost. The talented French goalkeeper was the highest-ranked player in Gazzetta dello Sport’s Pagelle after the Tottenham game.
Still, it was Tomori who was presented with the official award for Player of the match by UEFA, who claimed that Milan “deserved to go through to the quarter-finals,” whilst addressing the media after the game.
The central defender, who has three international caps to his name since 2019, also spoke to the English press about his disappointment of being left out of Gareth Southgate’s World Cup squad in November.
“Day-to-day I am not thinking about the national team,” Tomori insisted, adding: “I am focused on Milan.”
“There was a disappointment in not going to the World Cup but that’s football, sometimes it happens. You just have to move on.”
Despite the heartache of being excluded from the eventual 26-man squad in Qatar, the England coach has been tracking Tomori’s performances and keeping in touch since his arrival in Milan.
He said: “When I moved to Milan, Gareth Southgate messaged me and spoke to me about it and when we used to go to the camps he would speak to me about how it was going. He has always kept in contact and we will see what happens next week.”
England are due to take on the Azzurri in the first Euro 2024 qualifier at the Stadio Diego Maradona on March 23.
Tomori will be eying a spot in the England squad, despite having only played in one game per season for the Three Lions over the last three years.
Southgate would be foolish to underestimate Tomori’s familiarity with the Italian set-up after a string of impressive performances in Serie A recently.
And if Wednesday night’s performance against Tottenham proved anything, it’s that he is perfectly adept when tasked with keeping out some of the best attackers on the continent.
Tomori proved he was entirely comfortable in dealing with the singular most dangerous attacking player England has to offer in Harry Kane.
With limited options available to Southgate in the centre-back department at this point in time, the game against Italy in Naples could be the perfect opportunity to give Tomori the competitive start he is so clearly deserving of.
Needs to keep his feet on the ground. He was woeful vs Fiorentina.
In fairness, everyone was woeful against Fiorentina.
True, but his poor decision making and positioning paved the way, when a point wouldn’t have been the worst result. He has a habit of making Ikone look like prime Eto’o.
FI, any reason why I can’t seem to reply a 2nd time on any article? I did mainly agree with you Rosario but unfortunately it’s in the cyber-ether now. Its the 2nd time it’s happened today as I also tried to reply on another article today with no luck.