"They dominated him..." - Rio Ferdinand slams Fikayo Tomori amid Man Utd links

Rio Ferdinand slammed Manchester United target Fikayo Tomori after his poor Champions League outing in the Milan derby.

The United legend claimed Tomori failed to show he is a “top player” as AC Milan endured a defensive nightmare against their bitter rivals Inter in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final.

Tomori was central to the Rossoneri side that won Serie A last season, while he starred in the club’s last-16 victory against Tottenham.

However, on Wednesday evening Inter scored twice within the opening 11 minutes as Tomori and his centre-back partner Simon Kjaer were run ragged by Edin Dzeko and Lautaro Martinez.

United and Tottenham fans in particular, would have watched with keen interest, given the Mail Online claimed both clubs were keeping tabs on the three-cap England international.

The publication reported last month that Ten Hag was planning a squad exodus, with Tomori identified as a potential replacement for Harry Maguire.

Ferdinand on Tomori

Speaking on BT Sport, Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard admitted he was “slightly disappointed” with Tomori’s performance, before asking Ferdinand for his assessment of the 25-year-old against Inter.

Ferdinand replied: “I said before the game, in the big showcase games you have to perform if you want to be propelled into being a top player. And unfortunately, it wasn’t one of those today.

“One thing I would say is that individual duels, I don’t think he won enough of them.

“I don’t think he impacted the two centre-forwards with any type of aggressiveness, challenges to really put a marker down at any point. They kind of dominated.

“One thing they did have was really good balls into them. They had time to get their heads up from either defensive positions in midfield or run with the ball freely to get balls into the forwards.

“If you are playing good balls into the right sides of the forwards to benefit them, players of Martinez’s and Dzeko’s standards, they are going to make it difficult for any defender to get near them. It was a little bit of that. But you have got to assert yourself in these games. You have to put your marker down early in these games and at no point did he do that.”

Topics: Football, Premier League, Fikayo Tomori, Manchester United, Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard, Harry Maguire, Transfers

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.