AC Milan defender Fikayo Tomori has undergone successful knee surgery.
Tomori suffered a knee injury in the first half of the 3-1 Coppa Italia win over Genoa on Thursday which required a keyhole surgery to fix.
Milan have announced the defender is expected to be sidelined for around 30 days.
Tomori thanked the fans for their support, saying: “Successful surgery today, aiming to return to the pitch as soon as possible.
“Thank you all for your messages of support.”
Chelsea FC defender Fikayo Tomori has revealed that Nigeria never made any effort to convince him to switch allegiance before his international call-up for England.
He said that he deliberated long and hard before committing his international future to England over Canada or Nigeria.
Choosing which country to represent had not been easy for the Chelsea defender, who is a new face in England’s squad for the Euro 2020 qualifiers.
The 21-year-old was selected in Gareth Southgate’s latest squad for Euro 2020 qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Bulgaria earlier this month.
Tomori’s parents are of Nigerian descent, while he is also eligible to play for Canada having been born in Calgary, representing them three times at the U-20 level.
His breakthrough into Chelsea’s first-team under Frank Lampard this season sparked a scramble to secure his international future, but Tomori insisted he had no contact with Nigeria prior to accepting Southgate’s call.
“England called me up in September, and I didn’t get a call up from anyone and when they called me up, it was hard to say no to them.
“But I enjoy Nigerian music, I’m Nigerian, it’s my culture and I’m very proud of it,” he said told Skysports.
Tomori will look to continue his fine form as the Blues travel to Burnley on Saturday aiming to extend their record of six consecutive victories in all competitions.
Nwankwo Kanu is unmoved following England handing Chelsea duo Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori international call-ups.
Gareth Southgate included the duo in the Three Lions’ squad to face the Czech Republic and Bulgaria in October’s Euro 2020 qualification games, to end the question on where the Chelsea stars will commit their international allegiance.
Abraham, 22, who has been in rich scoring form for Frank Lampard’s side had been capped by the Europeans in friendlies against Germany and Brazil, while Tomori who is also eligible to feature for Canada has played 15 times for English U21’s.
This development, however, did not come as a shock to the Arsenal great as he feels the Super Eagles have array of stars to count on if the duo dumps Nigeria.
“Our problem is that whenever someone starts doing well, we start chasing them which is not bad because other countries do that,” Kanu told Goal.
“I feel we don’t need to force people to play for the country, because Nigeria is bigger than any player.”
Chelsea manager, Frank Lampard has expressed happiness after England handed Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori international call-ups.
England manager, Gareth Southgate, has called up Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori, for their Euro 2020 qualifying games against Czech Republic and Bulgaria.
Abraham and Tomori, who are also eligible to play for Nigeria, have been in impressive form for the Blues this season.
If they accept the invitation and eventually feature in any of the matches, they will not be able to represent the Super Eagles again.
“I’m delighted Tammy Abraham is back in the England squad. He has all the attributes to go there and be successful,” Lampard told reporters at his pre-match press conference on Friday ahead of Chelsea’s Premier League clash against Southampton on Sunday.
“It will be another step for him and a good challenge for Tammy.”
Lampard added: “Fikayo Tomori deserves it. He has been a dream to work with day in, day out for the last 15 months or so.
“It’s a great step up and it’s in his hands to go there and show what he shows us every day.”
Nigeria’s duo of Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori were included in a 25-man squad on Thursday for away Euro 2020 qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Bulgaria.
Canadian-born Tomori however, is getting his first call-up for the English senior national team.
Striker Abraham turned 22 on Wednesday, celebrating in style with the opener in his club’s 2-1 UEFA Champions League victory at Lille.
He is the leading English goalscorer in the English Premier League (EPL).
In spite of making two senior appearances for England in friendlies two years ago, he is also eligible for Nigeria and had said he was undecided about his international future.
Manager Gareth Southgate told reporters he had not discussed the matter with Abraham, and had left it to Chelsea boss Frank Lampard to tell the player he was in the squad.
“We’ve got close to hundreds of players now in our system who are dual nationality,” he added.
“I don’t think it’s ethically right just to give a player a cap to make sure that they can’t play for somebody else.
“Fik and Tammy are in on merit and I’m not going to guarantee that they are going to get on the pitch,” said Southgate. “But they have both been part of our junior system right the way through.
“As far as we are concerned the two boys have been developed through English football and are English players.
“I’m sure they have a huge desire to play for England at senior level.”
Meanwhile Tottenham’s Dele Alli and Manchester United’s Jesse Lingard did not make the cut.
Alli, who has made only four appearances for Tottenham Hotspur since returning from a hamstring injury, was omitted along with fellow-midfielders Lingard and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
There was also no place for Manchester City defender Kyle Walker.
Southgate said he was playing well but the bar was set high and he had lost out to strong competition.
He expected Oxlade-Chamberlain and Alli to challenge for places in coming months, while he retained faith also in Lingard fighting back.
England, who top Group A with four wins out of four matches, play the Czechs in Prague on Oct. 11 and Bulgaria in Sofia on Oct. 14.
Southgate said it was getting increasingly difficult to pick the squad, given the intense competition for places, and some of the choices had been hard to make.
Four Chelsea players feature and the manager praised Lampard, who took over at Stamford Bridge in July, for giving them their opportunities to shine.
“I’ve sat here for a few years and talked about opportunities for young English players,” said Southgate. “It’s a hugely positive step.”
Goalkeepers: Tom Heaton (Aston Villa), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Burnley)
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Ben Chilwell (Leicester), Joe Gomez (Liverpool), Michael Keane (Everton)
Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), Danny Rose (Tottenham), Fikayo Tomori (Chelsea) Kieran Trippier (Atletico Madrid)
Midfielders: Ross Barkley (Chelsea), Fabian Delph (Everton), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), James Maddison (Leicester), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Declan Rice (West Ham), Harry Winks (Tottenham)
Forwards: Tammy Abraham (Chelsea) Harry Kane (Tottenham), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Callum Wilson (Bournemouth)