Chelsea transfer chief Marina Granovskaia may be expecting imminent £21m call

Chelsea: Tuchel reacts to 0-0 draw with Man Utd

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Chelsea have a few decisions to make on players heading into the summer transfer window and Fikayo Tomori’s future remains up in the air. The 23-year-old enjoyed a strong breakthrough season under Frank Lampard last season, earning rave reviews and went on to make his debut for England’s senior team in October 2019.

His role diminished though in the second half of the campaign and Thiago Silva’s arrival pushed him further down the pecking order.

A loan move was touted at the start of the season, but Tomori wanted to stay at Stamford Bridge to fight for his place in the squad.

But he struggled to force his way into Lampard’s thinking before being sent out on loan to AC Milan in January.

The centre-back has since made a strong impression in Italy with Milan technical director Paolo Maldini admitting the club are interested in making his loan move permanent.

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The Serie A outfit have an option to buy Tomori for £21million, but Maldini has made it clear that he is hoping to negotiate that fee down in the summer.

“Tomori is a good talent and we have a buy-option clause. The price is very high,” Maldini said.

“AC Milan will decide at the end of this season and we will discuss it with Chelsea’s board.

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“As for the players whose contracts are running down, we include Zlatan as well, and we have weekly discussions about that too. All I can say is there isn’t much news to tell you.”

Marina Granovskaia will then have to make a decision in the summer on whether to open negotiations with Milan.

Thomas Tuchel has already used a number of centre-back pairings since taking over from Lampard and has given little away on his thoughts of Tomori’s prospective future.

But the England international is clearly highly thought of at Milan with Maldini happy with Tomori’s impact so far.

“Fortunately, I work for a club that has an effect on players. When AC Milan call, they players always listen,” Maldini added.

“Fikayo is a player with particular characteristics, pace and intensity, so we thought he could be a good reinforcement for this second half of the season.

“Naturally, [Alessio] Romagnoli isn’t happy, no player is when he doesn’t play.

“However, Milan are 17 points better off than last season, we’re second despite having more commitments and many injuries, so squad rotation is necessary and Alessio has played pretty much every game.”

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