Chelsea FC legend Gianfranco Zola has acknowledged that former Blues boss Maurizio Sarri made a mistake in judging the qualities of defender Fikayo Tomori.
The young centre-back was part of the Blues squad for the pre-season duties in the summer of 2018 but he was, however, loaned out to Frank Lampard’s Derby County for the 2018/19 campaign.
With Lampard’s return to Chelsea as manager, Tomori was instantly brought to the first-team mix after their stint together at Pride Park, and the 21-year-old has now emerged as one of the top performers in the team.
In a report covered by Metro, Zola has now admitted that he and Sarri made a mistake in judging the talents of Tomori and the youngster has proved his worth with standout displays this term.
“Tomori is one of the players. Last year we (me and Sarri) had him in the pre-season and we couldn’t see all the qualities that he is showing now. That is a surprise and a big lesson for us and me personally as well. They are going beyond my expectations,” he told.
He added that he has also been surprised by the performances of the some of the other graduates in the first-team and the backroom staff from last season have certainly learnt a big lesson from Lampard’s handling of the youngsters.
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