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Fikayo Tomori has turned down the chance to join Leeds United and instead will move to French club Rennes on loan for the rest of the season.
The 22-year-old broke into the Chelsea first-team last season and even earned an England cap, but has fallen down the pecking order under Frank Lampard since, and is a long way from being a regular starter.
He also joined Fulham on a season-long loan on transfer deadline day, but pulled out of the deal at the last minute, preferring to fight for his place at Stamford Bridge.
However, despite his lack of opportunities this season, Chelsea still have high hopes of Tomori for the future, but are now ready to sanction his temporary departure in order to aid his development.
West Ham were also watching him, but Rennes had a long-standing interest and tried to include him as part of the deal that took goalkeeper Édouard Mendy to West London, and negotiations continued.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.