Tomori: ‘People underestimate’ Pulisic, derby ‘different’ in Milan
Milan defender Fikayo Tomori says his teammate Christian Pulisic is ‘underestimated’ and recalls his first Derby della Madonnina: ‘I thought, this is a different derby.’
The Milan derby is just around the corner, with Milan and Inter meeting at San Siro this coming Sunday at 20:45 CET.
Tomori has entered his fifth year in Milan and spoke to The Athletic about his first match against Inter and the Rossoneri’s season so far.
Tomori on Milan derby and Allegri
“It was Covid but the fans came to the training ground. That doesn’t happen in England. They’re waving flags. They’ve got banners and everything,” said the Milan defender.
“Immediately, that happens and you think: ‘This is a different game. This is a different derby’. Then you come to the stadium. You’re on the bus and you hear the fans banging on it. At first I was like: ‘Hold on, what’s going on here’.
“Having these ultra passionate fans who just sing for 90 minutes. Not even 90 minutes,” Tomori continued.
“They’re there before we’re out warming up. They’re there after the game. Even that in itself is another nuanced thing that makes it so special. I feel like, even my friends, I used to tell them about it but they never really understood what I was saying until they actually came to the stadium.”
Milan sit second in Serie A, ten points below their city rivals and table leaders Inter.
They don’t play in any European competition after a disappointing 2024-25 campaign, but new coach Massimiliano Allegri seems to have turned things around.
Tomori recalled one of the first meetings with the Italian tactician: “He said: ‘Last season, we scored, I don’t know, 80-something goals. That’s Champions League statistics. However, we conceded 40-something. That’s sixth place or maybe in a good year fourth’. He said: ‘That’s not to say the defenders are bad and the defenders aren’t doing their job, the goalkeeper’s not doing his job. It’s to say the whole team needs to have the mentality that we cannot concede this many goals because if we don’t concede that many, we’ll be top of the table, especially with the players we have up front.”
Rafael Leao has scored ten goals and provided two assists in 22 appearances across all competitions this season, but missed several games, especially at the start of the campaign, due to a calf injury.
“It was almost like he didn’t know how good he was,” Tomori said about the Portuguese, “because everything came so naturally to him. He came out of the womb and this is just how he knew to play football. He just didn’t know how to use what he had. Everyone saw it the year we won the Scudetto, almost like he realised: ‘Wow. I can do this! I can do this!’.”
Christian Pulisic, on the other hand, has had a fantastic start to the season, but is now struggling with injuries and hasn’t yet scored in 2026.
“People underestimate him,” Tomori said.
“People don’t realise how fast he is. They don’t realise how sharp he is with the ball, how good he is with the ball, how intelligent he is. You only realise it when he’s scored a goal against you. I knew him from Chelsea.
“Puli’s a top, top professional. A really top guy. He always wants to improve. If he misses a shot in training, he’s like: ‘Why did I do that?’. But he’s really calm and nice to be around, very level-headed even, you know, (as) the best player America’s had in god knows how long. But he’s very calm, level-headed, very simple, I’d say.”
Tomori hasn’t played for the England national team since 2023, but hopes to convince Thomas Tuchel for the 2026 World Cup.
“We spoke a few months ago and he kind of said what I said. That I’m close and there’s not a lot in it, just to keep going,” Tomori concluded.
“In football (and) in life anything can happen. I’m focused on myself, doing the best I can to help myself, to help Milan. And then, like I said, hopefully I’m on the plane in June.”