‘I made the decision’: Fikayo Tomori explains why he turned down West Ham move for Chelsea stay

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Chelsea defender, Fikayo Tomori, has opened up about his failed move to West Ham this summer and admitted it was him who made the decision to stay put.

The England defender, who played plenty of times for the Blues last season, has been shunted down the pecking order a bit this season thanks to the arrival of Thiago Silva.

A move to West Ham was touted just before the deadline, but, ultimately, the former Derby County loanee ended up staying at Stamford Bridge.

And Tomori, who was speaking to the Chelsea Mike’d Up podcast, says it was all down to him in the end.

“I had a plan going into this season going off the back of last season. Obviously, in football, things change so quickly so I wanted to make sure whatever decision I made was really thought out and to try and do what’s best for me.

“I made the decision in the end to stay, to improve more, get some more games, gain some more experience and try and get to the levels I was at last season. I wanted everything to be thought out and I thought about what was happening, especially when we had a few weeks off leading up to the new season.”

The 22-year-old got himself an England cap last season thanks to his performances under Frank Lampard. However, the Chelsea boss has opted for the experience of Silva this term, with Andreas Christensen also being selected.

West Ham, meanwhile are still looking for new players with the EFL deadline set to pass today.

Tomori has talent but needs to be careful, maybe a January move? – TBR View

The last thing Tomori wants here is to see his career take a mini nosedive after doing so well last term.

He is a classy defender on his day and a player who should have a good career at the top level. However, he’ll hope his decision – which has to be respected of course – doesn’t come back to bite him in six to nine months’ time.