FIKAYO TOMORI cannot wait to star in a special Wembley edition of Made in Chelsea in the Championship play-off final.
The £180million play-off final clash between Derby and Aston Villa features three on-loan Blues who won the FA Youth Cup three years ago.
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Not to mention the two Stamford Bridge legends on the touchline…
In the Derby camp, managed by Frank Lampard, are defender Tomori and midfielder Mason Mount.
While for Aston Villa, Tammy Abraham will be up front, with John Terry working as manager Dean Smith’s assistant.
And Tomori, 21, says it is just another part of an incredible journey he has been on with Mount, 20, and Abraham, 21, since childhood.
He said: “It’s surreal. Tammy and I have shared this journey since we were six, while Mason started playing with us when he was about 15.
“Me and Tammy made our Premier League debuts together against Leicester.
“We all played for England together, we’ve won lots of tournaments together, too.
“And now we’re playing in one of the biggest games in English football at Wembley.
It’s going to be like a mini Chelsea reunion at Wembley.
Fiyako Tomori
“We all know each other really well and are good friends off the pitch, too.
“And then you’ve got JT and Super Frankie Lampard coaching us all — so it’s going to be like a mini Chelsea reunion at Wembley.
“It’s great. We’re all so excited because it’s been a great year for all five of us.”
Tomori, Abraham and Mount all scored in the two-legged 2016 FA Youth Cup final, which Chelsea won 4-2 on aggregate against Manchester City. Tomori said: “Mason scored at their place when we drew 1-1 and Tammy and I got one each at Stamford Bridge in a 3-1 win.
“When you’re a young player, you just want to play in these big games.
“You never imagine you’re going to end up in a play-off final – and playing with each other, or against each other, a few years later.
“It’s mad to think how far we’ve come and how hard we’ve worked to get here.
“There are lots of things people don’t see — doing bits before training or staying afterwards to get to this point.
“I just want to make the most of it now.”
JOHN TO WATCH
All three of the Chelsea kids were in awe of Terry and Lampard when they were coming through the ranks — dreaming of emulating their heroes. So it is ironic that their first chance of winning something significant in their senior careers will come with the pair watching from the touchline.
Tomori recalled: “The gaffer left Chelsea as I was turning 15 or 16. I was about to start training with them.
“But JT was there when myself and Tammy made our debuts. He was the club captain and, of course, he is Mr Chelsea.
“To have those two Chelsea legends at Wembley is great — as it has been all season for us.
“Myself and Mason are loving working for Frank and I know Tammy is thrilled that JT is with him at Villa.
“It’s been fantastic for our development because we’ve always said, when we were growing up, that they were the two type of players we aspired to be. Certainly Mason as a midfielder and myself as a defender.
“And they’ve been giving us all sorts of help and advice this season at Villa and Derby.
“I remember JT so well. He just had this aura about him.
“It’s true what they say about him — he really is a leader.
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“And when you’re a leader like him, you don’t really have to say too much as you command respect immediately.
“He would take us to one side and tell us ahead of our debuts, ‘Enjoy it, do your stuff and keep things simple’. We’ve taken that on board.”
Tomori has had a great season for the Rams, playing alongside experienced campaigner Richard Keogh, 32.
And the defender revealed the biggest thing he has learned from Lampard — high standards.
He said: “The boss makes sure you’re challenging yourself every day and not settling to be mediocre.
“We must make sure we’re on top of ourselves, doing our best for the team and playing as well as we can.
“It’s not just me who has learned this but the whole team — especially during difficult parts of the season.
“But we’ve managed to grind out results when we’ve needed to.
“Credit to the manager, because he’s relayed his standards on to us as players.”
IN THE STARS
Tomori revealed he and pal Abraham were praying they would end up facing each other at Wembley.
He said: “We spoke after the Leeds game and he congratulated me. But around October or November, we were saying to each other how cool it would be if we all ended up making the play-off final at Wembley.
“We’ve gone into radio silence this week as we’ve got to focus on our own games.”
With Tomori having played with Abraham for so many years, the pair know each other’s games inside out.
And the on-loan Rams ace said: “Knowing his game, it makes it easier.
“But, at the same time, he knows my game so it makes it very tough!
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“I’ve got to not think too much about Tammy because Villa have got a whole array of good attacking talent.
“We must combat that and show our strengths, too.”
There is £180m riding on today’s Championship play-off final — because that is the minimum amount of money a promoted club makes from one season in the top-flight, with three parachute payments if relegated.
But Tomori says there is no chance he will be nervous.
He said: “When you are a kid, you dream of playing in the biggest games on TV at Wembley — and now we have that opportunity.
“They say it’s the richest game in English football.
“For us, it’s just a game of football and we’re trying to take the emotion out of it in that sort of sense.
“We just want to go out there, give our best, leave everything out on the pitch and have no regrets.
“We’ve got such a great chance to make a piece of club history. And at the same time, we want to make Chelsea proud of us, too!”
