Tammy Abraham is not good enough to lead the line for a ‘top four’ club amid talk of joining Arsenal this summer.
This is the verdict of former Gunners midfielder Perry Groves, who also revealed that West Ham United would be the ideal club for the Chelsea striker who could be on the move this summer.
In one of the more surprising rumours since the transfer window opened last month, Arsenal are reportedly interested in raiding their west London rivals for another player.
Not content with deals for Petr Cech, David Luiz and Willian in the past decade, The Sun claim that the Gunners are close to agreeing an initial loan deal for Abraham, with the obligation to make the deal permanent next summer for £40million.
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That stance has since been denied by transfer expert Fabrizio Romano who claims that Arsenal are “currently not in advanced talks” to sign Abraham.
Although, the rumour has prompted Groves to urge his former club against pursuing a deal.
“I don’t think he’s that level because he misses too many chances. He’s not calm enough in his finishing,” he told talkSPORT. “He had a brilliant season under Frank Lampard where he got 15 goals in 34 appearances, but Chelsea were creating loads of chances and he was still missing lots of them.
“His general play improved under Lampard, to be fair, but that’s an add-on. You don’t get judged on your general play, your hold-up play, as a striker you get judged on your finishing.
“If you’re playing for Chelsea, and we’ve seen Werner miss loads of chances this season, Kai Havertz too, but if you’re playing for the top four clubs you’re going to get two or three expected goals in every game, and you’ve got to be taking at least one of those.
“I don’t think he’s quite at that level. He had two brilliant seasons in the Championship with Aston Villa and Bristol City, but I think he’s still got quite a bit to prove.”
And whilst Groves agrees that Abraham needs to leave Chelsea this summer, he has another London club mind as the 23-year-old’s perfect destination.
“If I was him, he needs to go and play now, he needs to play first-team football,” Groves added. “Thomas Tuchel doesn’t fancy him at all, sometimes last season he wasn’t even in the squad, he wasn’t even on the bench.
The summer window is officially open, and it’s going to be tough to keep up with the comings and goings in and out of the Emirates.
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“So he needs to go and play and he could suit West Ham… depending on how much it’s going to cost. He’s Chelsea’s top scorer, English, young, I think he’s probably worth around £30m. I think a fee like £45m would be too much.
“I think a move to West Ham would be a good fit for him. He’s not a top-four Premier League striker.”