Squad

Fikayo Tomori

Defender

Legacy Number: 1246
Dob: 19 December 1997 (26YRS)
Height: 6FT 1" (185cm)
Preferred foot: right
Place of birth: Calgary, Canada
Current club: AC Milan
England debut: 17/11/2019
Senior caps: 5
Senior Goals: 0

Grassroots club: Riverview
County FA: Kent

It was March 2016 and an MU20 international between England and Canada at Doncaster's Keepmoat Stadium when a Chelsea defender caught the eye of the Young Lions' coaches.

The player in question was Fikayo Tomori who was lining up for Canada, the country of his birth, and did a sterling job of keeping England striker Marcus Rashford quiet as the Canucks won by 2-1.

He was already on the radar of England's scouts, having been on the academy books at Stamford Bridge since he was seven after moving to England as a toddler and growing up in Kent.

Just three months later, and with the international switch made, Tomori was lining up with the England MU19s as they headed to the Euro Finals in Germany under Aidy Boothroyd.

And the following campaign saw him become a mainstay of the group which went on to win the FIFA U20 World Cup in South Korea under Paul Simpson as well as enjoying a successful spell domestically with Chelsea's all-conquering academy.

From there, he progressed into the MU21s' set up while gaining valuable experience with loan spells in the Championship at Hull City and Derby County as the Young Lions qualified for another Euro Finals in 2019.

The 2019-20 campaign saw Tomori make the first-team breakthrough at Chelsea too. With Blues manager Frank Lampard having coached him during his loan at Derby, he continued to show his faith in the youngster by handing him his debut and a platform to perform on the big stage.

His first senior call-up came in October 2019 and he made his debut against Kosovo as England rounded off their EURO 2020 qualifying campaign with a win in Pristina.