Tomori, Abraham prove Serie A no death sentence for England players
Stuart Telford
- 19 Sept 2022 16:31 BST
- 3 min read
The Premier League may have stolen Serie A's unofficial title as "the best league in the world," but the experiences of Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham prove there is still sense in English players making Italy home.
The proverbial torch may have passed in the 1990s. Some of England's best players such as Paul Gascoigne, David Platt and Des Walker used to strut their stuff in Italy, but the footballing landscape has changed over the last 30 years or so.
But now Serie A-based players are becoming cornerstones of the England squad once again, with Tomori's and Abraham's form with AC Milan and Roma respectively carrying enough weight for Gareth Southgate to include them - once again - for England's upcoming UEFA Nations League matches with Italy and Germany.
Agent Fikayo Tomori convinced Abraham to move to Serie A 🇮🇹🤝 pic.twitter.com/164RYwdxQn
— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) March 26, 2022
Italy may be two places and 29.739 points behind top-ranked England in UEFA's latest country coefficients, but centre-back Tomori won Serie A with Milan last season while striker Abraham scored 27 goals in all competitions with Roma.
"First of all, congratulations must be paid to these two boys for the way they have adapted abroad in a league different from ours," Southgate said aheadnof the last round of Nations League fixtures in June.
Southgate: 'An important aspect'
"They had to learn a new language and integrate into a group with a different culture. Tomori had an excellent season with Milan. Now he is in high spirits after winning the Scudetto.
"He plays for AC Milan, where there are 70 or 80,000 fans every week: it's a similar kind of pressure to playing for the English national team. It's an important aspect to consider."
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Tomori and Abraham are both Chelsea academy graduates, and while some at the Blues - like Reece James and Mason Mount - have managed to forge a path into the first team before becoming full England internationals, others have struggled.
Winning and scoring in Italy remains preferable to floundering in Chelsea's reserves, and if Tomori and Abraham teaches young players anything, it is that a move to Serie A is a lifeline, not a death sentence, for their England careers.
