Fikayo Tomori annoyed with FIFA 20 stats, claims he’s the quickest player at Chelsea

Fikayo Tomori is trending. Over three months into his breakout debut season with Chelsea, he is quickly becoming a fixture in defense for the club.

On the field, Tomori comes across as an intelligent and mature defender. Off the field, as we know, Tomori is studying for a business degree in his spare time. He would rather seek self-improvement with his studies in his spare time rather than gaming.

“Everyone is gaming. I’m not much of a gamer, I let them get on with it, but there’s a lot of FIFA and Fortnite going on.

“Football is not going to go on forever. When I retire — or God forbid get an injury — then I have something I’m working towards and that can stand me in good stead for the future.”

- Fikayo Tomori, source: Daily Mail

Tomori may not be much of a gamer, let alone one who spends time on FIFA with his mates, but he does still actively keep a pulse on his FIFA ratings.

Speaking with the BBC MOTDx crew, Tomori strongly disagrees with how slow he is in the game. For Tomori, FIFA represents popular culture, and his reputation is on the line.

“I’ve seen my stats [...] To be fair, I’m not unhappy with it but when I see people I know I’m quicker than are faster than me on the game, that’s annoying.

It is understandable to feel aggrieved by an arbitrary ratings system that devalues two of his strongest defensive attributes, pace and acceleration.

Tomori has already earned himself accolades against Liverpool earlier this season by keeping Mohamed Salah quiet with brilliant defensive display. Salah is widely considered one of the fastest players in the world, let alone the Premier League.

While Tomori clearly has an axe to grind being perceived as slower than other players, he playfully calls out being slower than Callum Hudson-Odoi in a bit of banter.

“I’m just going to say it. Callum [Hudson-Odoi]. He is 85 rated pace and I’m 80.”

- Fikayo Tomori, Source: Football.London

We’ve heard from Callum Hudson-Odoi about his take on FIFA ratings. Hudson-Odoi claimed Willian and Christian Pulisic are the fastest players in the team, while modestly leaving himself out of consideration.

However, Hudson-Odoi fails to bring up Tomori’s name.

Mason Mount also took part in the same interview with the BBC, and was quick to back up the young Chelsea defender’s claim of quickest in all of Cobham and SW6.

“I would put Fikayo at the top. He is probably the quickest in our team.”

- Mason Mount, source: Football.London

So, Mount’s clearly #TeamTomori.

But all the playful banter now begs a question that needs to be answered: “Who is the fastest Chelsea player?”

In today’s pre-match press conference, Frank Lampard was asked to weigh in on the issue.

“Tomori is fast. He’s very fast. I’m not sure about clearing it up, I remember FIFA cards when I was about 37 and my pace was 35 — so I was slower than my age, which is really strange.

“I had to take those rankings with a pinch of salt, so should Tomori. He should show it in every game, which he has done so far.”

- Frank Lampard, source: Football.London

Super Frank answered that question like the old man coach that he is.

Unfortunately, the hard hitting question and the title of ‘Fastest Chelsea player’ still lingers.

Let’s throw the FIFA ratings away. It’s clear that the only way to get to the bottom of this is race. A quarter-mile race.

As the brooding Californian poet and small business owner, Dominic Torreto once said: “Ask any racer. Any real racer. It don’t matter if you win by an inch or a mile. Winning’s winning.”