Former Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham has admitted he followed the examples of Kevin de Bruyne, Mohamed Salah and Romelu Lukaku in making the move away from the west London club. It comes amid links with a move back to the Premier League this summer.
The 24-year-old struggled for game time last season at Stamford Bridge, eventually making the £36million switch to AS Roma to play under former Blues boss Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese manager appears to have found a tune out of him, with Abraham scoring 24 goals across all competitions in his debut season so far.
While things seem to have worked out for the England international, Thomas Tuchel is missing a goal threat of his own, despite re-signing Lukaku from Inter Milan for a club-record fee last summer. The Belgian has only scored five Premier League goals, with the manager claiming they need more patience with the forward.
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“Yeah. I still believe that he will (score) because he always did, we need more patience than maybe we all have and wanted with this signing,” Tuchel said. “We demand a lot from our strikers also in terms of intensity. There are several reasons why things are like this (he is not scoring) and we are on it."
While Lukaku has struggled, Chelsea have been linked with a return for Abraham, with a clause in the forward’s contract that is set to trigger in 2023, making him available to the Blues for €80million (£67million). However, they aren’t the only side linked with him, as London rivals Arsenal are also said to be eyeing a move.
Mikel Arteta is looking to bolster his forward line this summer, with Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah set to leave the club as free agents. This leaves academy graduate Folarin Balogun as the only recognised centre-forward in the club.
As a result, a move for Abraham could help the Spaniard reach his goals at the Emirates. And amid links with both clubs, the England international has spoken out about his move away from Stamford Bridge.
Speaking with Alan Shearer for The Athletic, the striker admitted that he followed the path of former Chelsea players in leaving the club, wanting to become one of the best in the world. “I’ve seen the likes of De Bruyne, Salah and Lukaku leave Chelsea and spread their wings. They’re the best players in the world," he said.
“For me, it’s about doing the same thing and even if it’s not the Premier League, it’s about going out and learning a different culture and experiencing different things. It’s about saying, ‘you know what, this is my time’.”
He also added that England national team manager Gareth Southgate spoke to him about the switch to the Serie A to try and help him. “[We spoke] a few times towards the back end of last season, just explaining what I was going through and my mental state and he helped me a lot and gave me good advice," Abraham added.
“He said, ‘listen, do the best you can for you, build yourself back up and hopefully next season you’ll be playing again’. Those words helped me a lot.” Whether Abraham makes a move back to the Premier League so soon after his exit remains to be seen. However, the more he is scoring under Mourinho, the more attractive a transfer could look for those two London sides and many others.
