Fikayo Tomori Apologizes to John Terry After Awkward Ranking Goes Viral
By: Akinde .S. Oluwaseun
Fikayo Tomori just found himself in one of those situations where you wish you could hit rewind. And honestly? You can feel his pain through the screen.
The AC Milan defender has had to apologize to Chelsea legend John Terry after things went sideways during a ranking challenge. The whole thing’s been making waves online, and Tomori’s clearly not happy about how it played out.
So here’s what happened.
SPORTBible got Tomori to do their blind ranking challenge – you know the type. They give you one name at a time, and you’ve got to rank them in your top ten without knowing who’s coming next. It’s a trap, basically. A fun trap, but still a trap.
Tomori was ranking the greatest centre-backs of all time. Heavy stuff. The kind of list that’s gonna upset somebody no matter what you do.
The catch? He didn’t get to see the full list upfront. Names came one at a time. So he’s making decisions in the dark, hoping the next name isn’t someone he’s already placed too low.
And then John Terry’s name popped up.
By that point, Tomori only had two spots left – first position and tenth position. That’s it. No room to maneuver. No middle ground. All or nothing.
“10… Hey, JT – I’m sorry,” Tomori said, and you could hear the regret already.
He knew. He absolutely knew this was going to look bad. Terry’s a Chelsea legend, and Tomori came through Chelsea’s academy. This is someone he probably looked up to growing up. And now he’s just put him dead last on a top ten list.
The 28-year-old defender tried to explain himself, bless him. “That makes me feel a little bit better that I put JT 10th, because I knew he was gonna come up.”
Wait, what? He knew Terry was coming and still only left tenth place? That’s somehow even worse, mate.
But Tomori wasn’t done. He wanted to make things right, or at least explain what he would’ve done differently if he’d had the chance.
“If I were to change it around, maybe I would shift everyone down. So I’d take John Terry out of the 10th one, slide everyone down and put John Terry third. That’s what I’d do.”
Third position. That’s where Tomori really rates Terry. Which is fair, actually. That’s elite company.
So who did make the cut ahead of JT in Tomori’s original ranking?
At the top, he went with AC Milan legends Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Nesta in first and second positions. Makes sense – Tomori plays for Milan now, and those two are basically gods in Italian football. No controversy there.
Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos grabbed third spot. Then came Rio Ferdinand in fifth and Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk in sixth.
The bottom half had Gerard Pique in seventh, Giorgio Chiellini in eighth, and Vincent Kompany sitting at ninth.
All absolute quality defenders. World Cup winners, Champions League legends, the works. That’s what made Terry landing in tenth so awkward. He belongs in that conversation, not at the tail end of it.
The whole situation really highlights why these blind ranking challenges are brutal. You’re making decisions without all the information, and by the time you realize you’ve messed up, it’s too late. The damage is done.
Terry hasn’t publicly responded yet, but knowing him, he’s probably having a laugh about it. The man won everything there was to win at Chelsea – five Premier League titles, Champions League, Europa League, multiple FA Cups. His legacy is secure.
Still, you can tell Tomori genuinely feels bad about it. He’s tried explaining, apologizing, and reshuffling things hypothetically. At this point, all he can do is hope JT sees the funny side.
Reportersroom will keep you updated if Terry responds to Tomori’s ranking and apology. For now, let this be a lesson – never agree to do a blind ranking challenge. It never ends well.
