Jose Mourinho and Tammy Abraham progressed to the final of the Europa Conference League on Thursday night with a 1-0 (2-1 aggregate) win over Leicester at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. Abraham secured Roma's route to the final with a first-half winner but Mourinho once again refused to praise Arsenal transfer target following the match.
The England international has scored 25 goals in all competitions in the Italian capital this season, an outstanding record for a player who had never played outside of England before this term. The former Chelsea man has given Premier League clubs a tough decision to make this summer following what has been a brilliant debut campaign.
However in classic Mourinho fashion his manager has insisted on withholding praise for the 24-year-old, saying that he can become an even better player under his tutelage. Abraham has scored 9 goals in 13 European games this season and could bring home the Roma's first trophy since the 2008 Coppa Italia.
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After the game, Mourninho said: "Tammy knows, I refuse to speak highly of him. Because he can do better and he knows that! He is a great player with potential to be even greater.
"I refuse to praise him! He needs to work this hard in every game, not just when we are up against Lazio or fighting for a European Final!"
Abraham scored a brace against arch-rivals Lazio back in March to further endear him to the Roman faithful and his goal on Thursday night will have only cemented his reputation as one of Europe's biggest striking prospects, but the 24-year-old insisted on a modest approach in his post match interview.
He said to BT Sport after the win: "My job is to be active around the box, that’s the kind of striker I am. Whenever I sniff an opportunity I try to take my chance. I’m not the best at heading but today was a pretty good one.', he added. ‘It was a bit of a surprise, but it doesn’t matter who is marking me, if I sniff a chance I have to go for it."
As previously reported, the Gunners will target a duo of centre-forwards this summer. football.london understands that Abraham is on Edu's radar as well as Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus.
