Speaking recently on his Ask Ornstein YouTube show, David Ornstein discussed the latest in Everton’s reported pursuit of Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori.
Making his Chelsea debut as an 18-year-old back in 2016, Tomori has gone on to make 24 appearances for the Chelsea first team, prior to their fixture with Barnsley on Wednesday evening, chipping in with two goals and providing one assist along the way.
The majority of these appearances came last season, in which the centre-back featured in 15 Premier League fixtures for Frank Lampard’s side, over which he averaged a WhoScored match rating of 6.88/10 – ranking him as the club’s 12th-best performer in the league – as well as four appearances in the Champions League, over which he averaged a highly impressive match rating of 7.15.
The £14.4 million-rated 22-year-old also earned his first England cap last year, making a substitute appearance in England’s 4-0 win over Kosovo last November.
It had been reported that Carlo Ancelotti was keen on the idea of adding Tomori to his defensive options at Everton before the transfer window closes next month, however, speaking on the Ask Ornstein YouTube show recently, Ornstein stated that Lampard has never been particularly keen on letting the defender leave west London in the current transfer window, in addition to the fact that Everton have now cooled their interest in Tomori somewhat.
He said: “We do know that Everton wanted to sign a top central defender this summer – they were close on Gabriel [Magalhaes], who ended up joining Arsenal – and whether that happens now might depend on if they’re able to get their top target, I just don’t know who that is.
“We know there were talks over a Tomori loan, but I’m not sure that Frank Lampard was ever overly keen on that. In terms of the Everton interest in Tomori, we’re also hearing that that has cooled.”
Do you think that Tomori would have been a good signing for Everton?
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TIF Thoughts…
From Ornstein’s comments, it would seem as if the journalist is of the belief that firstly, Lampard was never massively sold on the idea of Tomori leaving the club, and secondly, Everton themselves have lost their interest in the defender.
As such, according to Ornstein, the Toffees’ potential deal for Tomori appears to be at a dead end, meaning it looks likely that Ancelotti will have to turn his attention to other targets should he still wish to strengthen in that area of the pitch.