THE STOPPER

FIKAYO TOMORI

How did you hear about Milan’s interest in you last season, and what were your initial thoughts? Surprised?

When I first heard that they wanted me, I was very happy. My agent told me that Paolo Maldini had got in touch and asked if I’d be interested, and of course I was – I wasn’t surprised, I was more flattered! I was excited to come.

What’s it like to be part of this exciting new era at Milan?

Everyone knows that Milan were and still are a massive club with massive history – they’ve won seven European Cup and Champions League titles before, which is the second- most of any team in history. Now I think there’s a rebuild going on – we’ve got a young squad but also plenty of experienced players who’ve won titles and played in the Champions League. It’s been a while since Milan have been there, so for us to be back and me being part of the team is huge. The atmosphere is excellent and everyone is looking forward to showing what we can do this season.

What has the manager said he wants from you? What’s he like?

He wants me to be aggressive and helps me in my positioning, and tells me what he wants from me on the ball. He’s been really good. He tries to speak English to me when he can, but now my Italian is improving which helps! [ FFT: So… how are those lessons going?] Actually pretty well – I understand basically everything now. Some words can be more challenging, but the next stage is trying to speak like I do in my own language...