Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori, who was an Everton target in the summer, has been made available for loan.
Let’s roll back in time and go three months back when the summer transfer window was going on in full swing. Transfer speculations, rumours, intense negotiations between clubs had been dominating the news feeds of every football fan. Everton found themselves in deep waters after finding Mason Holgate and Jarrad Branthwaite had been ruled out for 3 months and 1 month respectively due to injuries.
The Toffees were left extremely vulnerable in central defence, forcing Marcel Brands and Ancelotti to reassess the condition and jump into the window and bring a centre back. Sky Sports reported that the Royal Blues were intensely evaluating the option of bringing Chelsea centre back Fikayo Tomori on loan.
In the end, Tomori ended up staying at Stamford Bridge wanting to fight for his place and Chelsea also keeping him. However, the Everton target Tomori could now be headed for a January exit with Chelsea contemplating on a loan move for the 22 year old, as per The Guardian.
Now that Chelsea have made Tomori available for loan, should the Toffees be still interested?
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Ancelotti signed Ben Godfrey from Norwich City for £25 million including add-ons. Holgate and Branthwaite are back and fit. However, the shortcomings in defence have been clearly evident. Holgate’s return was forgetful against Manchester United, giving evidence that even though he’s fit, he’s yet to reach the fitness level required for a game.
Ancelotti tried to correct the weakness in defence by fielding a back three against Fulham and even though the Toffees managed to win the game, there was not much progress made. The defence has always looked leaky despite the tactical alterations.
This coupled with individual mistakes has cost dearly at times. In such a situation should Ancelotti be looking at the transfer market? I’d probably say that the Italian manager will trust with the resources he has and try and work out a solution.
A new defender like Tomori will give Ancelotti options but could further complicate matters with game time, player preference coming in. So it’s surely a little too late for the Royal Blues. Had Chelsea softened their stance in the summer, the Toffees would have surely tried their luck.
So, despite Tomori’s availability, I don’t see Ancelotti now being interested in the 22 year old Chelsea man.