Derby County: Frank Lampard's "confident" prediction was on the money | OneFootball

The centre-back thrived in his year on loan at the Rams.

Derby County's 2018/19 season is one that is still looked back on with fondness, despite the team's failure to win promotion to the Premier League.

The Rams entered the season with excitement after a 6th place finish under Gary Rowett in 2017/18, and with Frank Lampard at the helm, supporters may have felt as though the club was entering a new era.

The Chelsea legend did not take long to start making moves in the transfer window, bringing in the likes of Duane Holmes, Jack Marriott and Martyn Waghorn to help take the East Midlands side back to the top flight for the first time in 2018.

While their permanent signings were excellent, the three loanees that Lampard brought to Derby from the Premier League, Harry Wilson, Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori, proved to be exceptional. The latter of the trio had an immense impact in defence, with the experience he gained from the season still showing in his game today.

Lampard was right with Tomori prediction

The centre-back joined the Rams from Lampard's former club Chelsea, with the then 40-year-old going back to the team that he played nearly 650 games for to find talent to bring to Pride Park with him.

It was a deal that was hard to judge at the time as Tomori had only spent a season-and-a-half in the Championship before, plying his trade for Brighton & Hove Albion and Hull City on loan from the Blues before making the switch to Derby for 2018/19.

Although there were perhaps a few worries from supporters, Lampard had full faith in his new number five and spoke highly of him when the deal was announced.

He told the club's media: "We’re really pleased to bring Fikayo in to provide us with another defensive option in central defence because, over the course of the season, we will need to be adaptable and have competition all over the pitch.

"He fits the profile for us; he is a talented young player and he has already got experience in the Championship from his loans at Brighton and Hull.

"I know him from my connections at Chelsea and, like with the other players we have brought in on loan this summer, I am confident we can be good for them and they can be good for us."

Lampard was more than correct with his prediction, with Tomori quickly becoming a key part of his plans despite a slightly shaky start.

Following Curtis Davies' season-ending injury against Stoke City in November 2018, the then 20-year-old stepped up knowing that there was not the same level of replacement on the bench, and he formed an excellent partnership with Richard Keogh at the heart of Derby's defence.

His pace and ability to recover from a mistake made him a formidable opponent for any Championship attacker. According to FotMob, Tomori won 56 tackles during his season on loan at the Rams, while also winning 262 duels in 44 appearances, showing just how strong he was defensively despite his young age.

Tomori has gone on to have a spectacular career

The superb centre-back was instrumental in helping his side to a play-off finish on the final day of the season, and although he could not do anything to deny Aston Villa their place in the Premier League in the final, he had shown in just one year that he was ready for the step-up.

He made 15 appearances for Chelsea in the top flight in the following campaign, once again under Lampard, but he was consistently overlooked in 2020/21, and eventually left England to join AC Milan in Italy.

It has been in Europe where he has thrived, winning the Serie A title in his first year at the club, the Rossoneri's 19th league title.

Tomori left Derby just three seasons before he won the Italian league at the age of 20, with only limited professional experience, but it was that time on loan in the East Midlands that helped him become one of the best defenders in Italy.

Few possibly believed that he would have gone on to achieve what he has done in his career when he first turned up at Pride Park, but Lampard showed belief in the young centre-back, and he has repaid that faith throughout the last few years.