Why Chelsea need not regret selling David Luiz because of Fikayo Tomori
It was a little surprising when Chelsea decided to part ways with David Luiz and allowed him to join Arsenal on transfer deadline day.
The Blues were under a transfer embargo and could not sign any players, while they had already seen Gonzalo Higuain return to Juventus and Eden Hazard leave for Real Madrid.
Luiz is one of the most experienced defenders in the Premier League, and this decision reduced the options that Frank Lampard had at the back.
The Chelsea manager started the season with Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen in the heart of the defence, but Fikayo Tomori has burst into the scene big-time.
The 21-year-old was on loan at Derby under Lampard last season and scored a goal of the season contender against Wolves on Saturday.
The Blues might have lost out on the experience of Luiz but the promotion of Tomori seems to be working.
Avoiding mistakes at the back while keeping things fresh
Arsenal
The Brazilian was at fault for two goals against Liverpool and he gave away another penalty against Watford at the weekend.
Turn to Chelsea’s side of the equation, and Lampard played three at the back to counter Wolves’ plans.
Tomori was played alongside Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, and the Blues were excellent for most of the game.
The English defender is another youngster that Lampard is putting his faith in, and that has paid off for most of the season.
The Blues are far from the finished article due to a lack of signings, but their English trio
Tammy Abraham is banging goals in for fun while Mason Mount looks like Lampard V2.0.
Had Luiz remained at Chelsea, the Brazilian would have been preferred at the back and it would have been difficult for Tomori to feature consistently for the Blues.
However, the now Arsenal star is prone to making errors and it is a better decision to hand the opportunity to the youngsters to see how they do in the big games.
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Tomori and the wave of English youngsters are repaying Lampard, something that the manager had hinted about earlier in the season.
The future is bright for the Blues
Lampard spoke to Chelsea’s website after being named as the manager and claimed he wanted to see players such as Mount and Tomori try to break into the team (h/t Metro):
“The fact they came through the academy here – you could see it in how they held themselves, how they train, their manners off the pitch so that’s what I want to see, I want to work with those players, I want to dangle the carrot.
“Can you work hard, can you compete, can you get in the team?”
The carrot has truly been dangled by Lampard and Tomori is the latest to snap at the opportunity and make it count.