‘I felt like it would develop his game a lot’: Fikayo Tomori reveals he convinced Tammy Abraham to join him in Italy and sign for Roma last summer… insisting he knew his former Chelsea team-mate’s style would be well-suited to Serie A football
- Fikayo Tomori has revealed he helped convince Tammy Abraham to join Roma
- Abraham joined the Serie A club last summer and has got off to a superb start
- The England striker has scored 23 goals in his first 40 appearances for Roma
- Tomori, currently at AC Milan, urged his ex-Chelsea colleague to move to Italy
Fikayo Tomori has revealed he convinced former Chelsea team-mate Tammy Abraham to head to Italy and sign for Roma last summer.
Abraham, 24, sealed a £34million switch to Roma back in August after falling out of favour under Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea.
The England striker has enjoyed a superb debut campaign at the Stadio Olimpico, scoring 23 goals in 40 appearances so far for Jose Mourinho’s side.
And Tomori, who also swapped west London for Italy in January of last year, has explained how he urged Abraham to join him in Serie A.
Fikayo Tomori convinced former Chelsea team-mate Tammy Abraham to sign for Roma
The ex-Chelsea defender told The Guardian: ‘When he said Roma was on the table, I said: “Bro this is a good league”.
‘I felt like it would develop his game a lot. He has scored a lot of goals this season for Roma, they’re fighting for a Champions League spot.
‘Definitely it’s helped him and definitely I gave him rave reviews about Serie A because I enjoyed myself so much the first six months.’
Like Abraham, Tomori has also settled in well since making the move to Italy, becoming an important member of Milan’s defence over the past 14 months.
Abraham has flourished in Serie A since leaving Chelsea and joining Roma back in August
And ex-Blues team-mate Tomori played a key role in his old colleague heading to Italy
The 24-year-old is enjoying plying his trade over in Serie A, comparing the style of play to American football.
‘In England, it’s more like basketball. Everything’s end-to-end, there’s more intensity, a lot more happens reactively,’ he added.
‘In Italy it’s more like American football. It’s like you have “plays”. When the ball’s here, I need to be here. When the ball goes, I know I have to be two metres over in that direction, or be looking for this particular player.
‘In England it’s very much off the cuff and things happen so fast. You can be attacking one minute and the next the ball’s flipped over your head and you’ve got to run back 30 yards, then you’re back on the attack.
‘Here it’s more like: “OK, the ball’s there, where’s my teammate? Where’s the opposition?” If the ball goes over the top I need to be in a position where I can leave the striker and get there, but if the ball goes into feet I’m in a position to go press.’
Tomori has spent the last 14 months plying his trade in the Italian top flight with AC Milan
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