Fikayo Tomori is looking to follow in the footsteps of John Terry at Chelsea, but he will not be “knocking the manager’s door down” in pursuit of more minutes.
The highly-rated defender is enjoying a breakthrough campaign at Stamford Bridge.
Vital experience has been collected outside of west London, with a loan spell at Derby in 2018-19 allowing the 22-year-old to work with Frank Lampard.
The current Blues boss has shown considerable faith in youth this season, with game time handed out to a number of promising academy graduates.
That has not always been the case at Chelsea, with big money often invested in ready-made stars, but Tomori and Co are now treading a similar path to legendary former captain Terry.
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“Obviously we had John Terry who had made that step from the academy and he was the player I looked at when thinking of the pathway to the first team,” Tomori told BT Sport of his progression.
“The club has really developed since he broke in to where we are now, with a lot of academy players involved.
“In recent years we have seen a lot of players get close to that level but probably not have a sustained run in the side like the younger players have had this season.
“So JT was the one we looked at as the inspiration that we could get a chance here at Chelsea, and that was always the motivation. Once you get there [playing for the senior team] the challenge then is to stay there, to keep your place and try to impress the manager.”
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Tomori has taken in 22 appearances for Chelsea this season, recording two goals and becoming a senior England international.
He had started to slip down the pecking order before football shut down during the coronavirus outbreak and is aware of the need to play his way back into favour.
Tomori added: “The manager has been great, certainly with me and the younger players.
“He put his trust in us from day one, even earlier for me and Mason [Mount] because he took us on loan with him to Derby.
“He has the confidence to play the younger players if we are performing well in training, he gives us that opportunity and that’s massive.
“I feel that I’m ready to come back in [and play] but I’m not knocking the manager’s door down or anything. I
“I want to show him on the training ground with my performances and attitude and I trust the manager to decide when it is right for me to play. I’m still young, I’m still learning and it’s the football that does the talking.”