Fikayo Tomori Opens Up On Failed West Ham Transfer

Fikayo Tomori has opened up on his failed deadline day move to West Ham last summer. The defender was in talks to sign for the Hammers on loan for the 2020/21 campaign. David Moyes had been chasing a centre-back for a couple of weeks, and it looked likely that the deal would happen.

The deal, however, collapsed in the eleventh hour, with Tomori being stuck at Chelsea. West Ham, on the other hand, eventually signed Craig Dawson on loan from Watford before the end of the domestic window.

From West Ham’s side of things, they will be thrilled with how everything turned out in hindsight. Dawson has become a solid first-choice defender while Tomori featured very little for the Blues before being loaned out to AC Milan in January.

Former West Ham loan target Fikayo Tomori has described what happened during his failed move from Chelsea to the East London club.

It was believed that Moyes had put Tomori off moving to the London Stadium. The manager was apparently not keen on developing a youngster for another Premier League club. However, the defender has now explained what happened to the deal.

Tomori was initially planning on spending the season on loan at Everton under the watchful eye of former Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti. That deal was cancelled on Chelsea’s end after former manager Frank Lampard decided that the defender was in his plans for the season.

"“I was ready to go and I wasn’t allowed to because the manager said I was in his plans…I like to think I’m pretty logical and I think things through and, together with my dad and my agent, my plan had been that if Everton didn’t happen, I had to be prepared to stay at Chelsea.”Tomori told the Telegraph."

So it seems that Tomori had prepared himself for a season at Stamford Bridge before West Ham came in with an offer. That, however, did not stop the east London side from making an approach. Lampard, this time, did decide that Tomori could leave the club.

"“A few hours before the deadline, I got a call saying the manager had said I could go to West Ham and it was a shock because this hadn’t been in the conversation at all. By the time the West Ham offer came, it was too late to just switch that mentality with no time to think about it.”Tomori on failed West Ham move."

The defender, however, could not change his mindset and accept a move to the Hammers and decided to try his luck remaining at Chelsea. The decision on Tomori’s end could still work out as he has made three appearances for the Rossoneri winning two games.

The Hammers in the meantime are challenging for the European places ahead of the Premier League run-in. Dawson has been a fundamental part of the team since breaking into the team. The Englishman has added some no-nonsense steel to the backline that has been missing since the days of James Collins.