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Tammy Abraham was Chelsea's top scorer with 12 goals last season. But the Blues offloaded him to AS Roma this summer, as he isn’t in manager Thomas Tuchel’s plans.
Once the Blues confirmed the signing of Romelu Lukaku, it was obvious Abraham had no future at Stamford Bridge. On Tuesday, the England striker officially completed a move to AS Roma after falling out of favour at Chelsea.
Abraham was handed the no. 9 jersey at his unveiling at Roma, where he will play under former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho. While the Italian side are not quite at Chelsea's level yet, it makes sense for Abraham to join them.
Unlike at Chelsea, Abraham is going to be the main man in Rome. He’ll likely be appreciated more, and could have enough playing time to take his game to the next level.
Tammy Abraham could be Jose Mourinho’s new Didier Drogba
Tammy Abraham worked briefly with Jose Mourinho during the Portuguese’s second spell at Chelsea, and it is understood the pair has a very good relationship.
It is also well-documented about how Mourinho improves strikers. The former Real Madrid and Inter Milan boss first did that with Didier Drogba, whom he brought from Marseille to Chelsea in 2004.
Mourinho’s conservative style of play means his strikers need to partake in defending and also make sure they’re intelligent enough to get into scoring positions when the team breaks on the counter. Abraham fits this profile perfectly. The 23-year-old was a starter under Frank Lampard, and was almost always on the scoresheet when he played.
Therefore, it was quite unfortunate that his opportunities were limited under Tuchel, but Abraham could become Mourinho’s new Drogba at Roma, and is likely to start many games.
Tammy Abraham could return to Chelsea in the future
Tammy Abraham may have left Chelsea, but everything suggests he could return in the near future. In fact, the club rates him so highly that a buyback clause of £68 million was inserted in his contract with Roma.
The Blues have a record of buying back players who leave and go on to establish themselves elsewhere. That happened with Nemanja Matic, and the re-signing of Romelu Lukaku is the most recent case in point.
"You can sense when a club really wants you - and Roma made their interest clear immediately," Abraham said after his move to Roma, as quoted by Sky Sports.
"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."
Abraham's buyback clause can be triggered by Chelsea in the summer of 2023, by which time he could have established himself in Serie A. Maybe, he could return to England after just two years in Italy.
