Chelsea of England central defender, Fikayo Tomori could be on his way to their fellow-London-based English Premier League rivals, West Ham United on loan next season, according to feelers emerging from Stamford Bridge, megasportsarena.com reports.
Although Tomori initially held a place firmly in The Blues’ starting line-up at the start of this season, he appears to have lost steam and is down the pecking order of central defenders available to Frank Lampard, thereby leaving speculation rising that the club would be ready to allow him leave in the summer.
It would a return to loan spells for the dark-skinned lad that was born in Canada, as he had previously played at Hull City and Derby County, where he made some really top marks playing under Lampard last season in the English Championship.
He could not be heading back in that same direction, as British sports medium, Athletic reports that Tomori could be allowed to leave Chelsea on loan in order for the club to secure the signing of Declan Rice, who is billed to join The Blues from the opposite direction at West Ham.
Having already snapped up Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech to bolster his attack next season, Lampard has turned his attention to improving The Blues’ defence and 21-year-old Rice is said to be his favoured target, but at the expense of Tomori.
Considering that The Hammers are asking for upwards of £70m for Rice, the report adds that Tomori may be sent in the opposite direction to London Stadium as a makeweight in any deal for The Blues’ former youth team player, who was released at 14 before joining West Ham.
While the majority of his 105 games have come in midfield, which earned him seven senior caps with England’s national team, Rice would likely be moved to centre-back under Lampard, which means Tomori will have to move on and give way for the more experienced new arrival.
