Tomori spent the second half of the historic 2016/17 promotion-winning season on the south coast, and went straight into a squad that needed points to secure Premier League football the following campaign.
He said, “When I went to Brighton, they were already top of the league in January and their team was pretty settled.
“I was 19 while I was there, so I was pretty much just starting out and going into a changing room that’s not full of people your own age.
“The team had people like Glenn Murray, who’d been playing in the league for 10 to 15 years, and they were fighting for points to get to the Premier League.
“It was all about being in a first-team environment, doing my bit whenever I could and playing a part when the manager wanted me.”
The 21-year-old remained in the Championship the following season and arrived at a Hull City side battling to avoid the drop – a very different experience to what he had been used to, but it was beneficial nonetheless.
“My first full season on loan was at Hull and it was my first time away from home too. We were hovering over the relegation zone for the whole season, so that was a different kind of challenge mentally.
“You weren’t sure if you were going to be in the team the next week if we had lost the game, because the club needed the points to stay up.
“Those loans really gave me a good outlook on football. Coming from Chelsea, you’re winning a lot of games and trophies, and are protected in a way. Those loans were what moulded me as a person and as a man, and made me grow up a lot quicker.”