Tammy Abraham's record-breaking performance for AS Roma in the UEFA Conference League typified everything Thomas Tuchel demanded from Romleu Lukaku. The 24-year-old striker opened the Italian giants' account within five minutes as Jose Mourinho's side waltzed past Bodø/Glimt and booked a place in the semi-final against Leicester City.
The Cobham graduate, who swapped Stamford Bridge for Stadio Olimpico in the summer for a deal worth £34 million, has thoroughly enjoyed his time in Italy. Abraham's dazzling displays have crowned him only the third Roma player to net 24 goals in a single season since the start of the century.
Following his effort against the Norwegian side, Abraham has now scored more goals across all competitions than any other English player in Europe's top five leagues this season. Though, it wasn't just his goal that caught the eye.
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The England international played a crucial role in Roma doubling their lead inside the opening half an hour following a sequence of neat interplay. With his back to goal and two centre-halves in close proximity, the ball was whizzed into Abraham; he then cushioned the ball into Lorenzo Pellegrini, who then unleashed Nicolo Zaniolo via a third-man run.
Roma's pattern of play typified everything that Tuchel first asked of Lukaku, who ironically was brought in to replace Abraham and Olivier Giroud — both of which have flourished at Chelsea's expense this season. Speaking in the summer just days before Lukaku's arrival, the Blues boss said: "I think with the exit from Olivier Giroud from the type of players we could use, a player used to playing with their backs to goal, whose strength is to keep possession from long balls."
Lukaku has struggled to acclimatise to life in the Premier League since joining Chelsea from Inter Milan for an eye-watering £97.5m fee. While one of the Belgium international's primary concerns has been his misfortune in front of goal, the 28-year-old has also struggled to engage in interplay.
The distances between Lukaku and his partnering inside-forwards — or number tens — have been too big, which has left him isolated. So, with Abraham's moment of magic in mind, the Belgian can learn a lot from that sequence of play in a bid to solve the Blues' striker headache.
Nonetheless, it's ironic that Abraham's input for Roma's second goal against Bodø/Glimt is what Tuchel wants from Lukaku, yet the Englishman was offloaded in the summer. A buy-back clause that allows Chelsea to re-sign the Cobham graduate for £67m will be activated in 2023, according to Mail Sport, should the club change their mind.
