Speaking on the Straight Out of Cobham Podcast, Simon Johnson has delivered an interesting update on reported Leeds and Newcastle target, Fikayo Tomori.
The centre-back is expected to leave the Blues this month, but there has now been another development in that story.
Johnson is very well-connected at Chelsea, so we should take what he says quite seriously, and he’s heard that Tomori is pushing for a move away from the club on a permanent basis, not just on a loan.
“He clearly is not wanted under this current management. He’s barely played in 2020, and Tomori himself, as you would expect, is really pushing to leave Chelsea, and someone actually told me not just on loan, he actually would be open to leaving permanently,” Johnson said.
“You can understand why he’s a little bit disillusioned due to the gametime he’s had, but yeah, I would be amazing if Tomori is still a Chelsea player in any regard come February.
“There’s a number of clubs in for him as you would expect. Rennes who were in for him last summer are back in for him again, and he’s quite tempted by that idea to try moving abroad, but as you’d expect, there are a lot of clubs who are interested domestically.”
The prospect of being able to sign Tomori permanently may change everything for both Newcastle and Leeds.
Of course, a permanent signing will be more expensive than a loan deal, but it is also more valuable, especially when you consider both linked side’s current predicaments.
Newcastle have no fewer than five centre-backs out of contract in the summer, so one would imagine that they will be keen to find a long-term solution to that problem position, and Tomori could be just what Newcastle need.
Meanwhile, Leeds reportedly don’t want to do business this window because of how long it takes new signings to get up to speed with Marcelo Bielsa’s methods, so a six-month loan for Tomori would have been pretty useless.
However, the prospect of a permanent signing, combined with the fact that Angus Kinnear has said that Leeds will look into making signings if a good deal comes up, makes you think that Tomori could still be an option for the Whites.
This is certainly a situation to keep an eye on.
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