English striker Tammy Abraham who was the joint top scorer for Chelsea last season with 12 goals has left the club to join AS Roma. The 23-year-old lanky forward struggled for game time since Thomas Tuchel’s arrival as the German preferred the likes of Timo Werner and Kai Havertz.
Despite their problems in the attack, Tuhcel never turned towards Tammy Abraham. The Blues then went on to spend the big bucks and brought back Belgian marksman Romelu Lukaku. The 28-year-old has returned to Chelsea from Inter Milan only to make things right after his below-par first stint at Stamford Bridge.
Abraham will wear the prestigious number 9 jersey for Roma and will look to replace veteran forward Edin Dzeko as the Bosnian joined Inter Milan.
Speaking about his move to Italy, the English forward was clear how Roma gave him more importance than Chelsea. Hence he decided to join the club and will also be leading the lines for Jose Mourinho’s men.
“You can sense when a club really wants you – and Roma made their interest clear immediately,” said Abraham.
“Roma is a club that deserves to be fighting for titles and trophies. I’ve had the experience of winning major trophies and I want to be in those competitions again – so I want to help this team to achieve that and get to the level where Roma should be.
“It’s a massive honour to be the No. 9 at this club and I just can’t wait to get started and to help the team,” the 23-year-old expressed in delight.
The youngster was on the bench as Chelsea defeated Villareal on penalties at the UEFA Super Cup. He was again an unused substitute during Chelsea’s win over Crystal Palace in their Premier League opening fixture.
Roma boss Jose Mourinho knows the youngster really well. Abraham was a young kid during Mourinho’s time at Chelsea. Although Abraham may have not played under the Portuguese, still it will be interesting to see how Abraham settles into Mourinho’s system. Roma open their Serie A campaign on August 22 when they take on Fiorentina.
“I’ve known him since he was a boy. He’s never played for me, because he was a 14-, 15-, 16-year-old boy when I was at Chelsea, but I know him very well,” Mourinho told Roma’s website.
“I know him as a person, a player and in terms of his mentality. I know how he made the decision to leave the Premier League, which is always tough for an English player.
“That tells me so much about him, because when you leave the Premier League, you do so because you’re ambitious. He comes here with that ambition and we hope to see his best qualities as a player,” Mourinho concluded.
