Chelsea's club record signing Kai Havertz wants to take Fikayo Tomori’s squad number with the defender set for a loan move to Everton claims a report.
Havertz joined the west London outfit last Friday in a £70million deal, continuing their spending spree after landing fellow Germany international Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell and Hakim Ziyech in a major summer of recruitment.
According to Simon Johnson of The Athletic, Havertz has asked to take Tomori’s number 29 shirt at Chelsea having worn that throughout his time at previous club Bayer Leverkusen.
He says that Tomori was happy to oblige and that was before his talks over a proposed season long loan move to Everton stepped up.
The ECHO understands Everton are indeed considering a move for the centre-half, but at present he’s part of a shortlist of potential defensive targets drawn up by the Blues.
Last season was Tomori’s first wearing 29 at Chelsea having previously worn the number 43 jersey for his senior debut as a substitute for Branislav Ivanovic against Premier League champions Leicester City on May 15, 2016.
He spent the second half of 2016/17 on loan at Brighton & Hove Albion wearing 27 and was handed the 31 shirt by Chelsea for the 2017/18 season but went on to spend the campaign on loan at Hull City wearing 29.
While on loan at Derby County in 2018/19, Tomori was given the number 5 shirt by current boss Frank Lampard.
Making his international debut for England against Kosovo on November 17, 2019 the 22-year-old, can operate as either a centre-back or right-back.
Born in the Canadian city of Calgary to Nigerian parents, Tomori moved to the UK as a toddler and has been with Chelsea since under-8s level in 2005.
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