Former Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham has broken a European record with Roma in the second leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League semi-final against Premier League regulars Leicester City.
Abraham, 24, just like Romelu Lukaku did, made his name in such a short time in Italy with his rampant form for Jose Mourinho’s side. At the time, the Blues felt their decision to part with the England international was the right one as Thomas Tuchel required a different profile of striker in his attack to suit his tactical needs. That’s exactly why a club record £97.5million was spent to bring the Belgian back to Stamford Bridge for what was expected to be a fruitful homecoming for Lukaku.
However, that hasn’t happened at all and his recent snub against Everton is a sign that after just one season, the 28-year-old could be heading for the Stamford Bridge exit door for the second time, whilst Abraham will almost certainly remain in Rome if Mourinho gets his way. It has been reported that Arsenal are looking at the possibility of pouncing on Chelsea’s mistake this summer but the man in question reportedly has ‘no intention’ of coming back to England anytime soon.
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Something he has once again demonstrated in Roma’s second leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final. Only ten minutes into the second leg and Abraham powerfully converted Lorenzo Pellegrini’s pinpoint corner to send the Stadio Olimpico into raptures.
It was the 24-year-old’s ninth of this season’s Conference League competition and his 25th goal across all competitions this term and he is the first English player to reach that mark at this point in 2021/22 which demonstrates the great decision he made in the summer to join Mourinho’s project.
“I’ll admit it was a very low point in my career,” he admitted when asked in an interview recently about how he felt sitting on the Blues bench near the end of his west London stay. “It did mess with me mentally for a bit. It got to a point towards the back end of the season where I was stropping.
“I was annoyed, because I’m working hard in training and I wasn’t getting the chances. I was doing the best I could, getting in early and finishing late, training drills, finishing drills, and still wasn’t getting a look in. I could understand if I wasn’t in great form or wasn’t training well or had a bad attitude. I just didn’t understand. I was working so hard. I was having players coming up to me saying, ‘You were unbelievable today in training.’ That was the hardest part.”
Tuchel’s own view on the prolific No. 9 nowadays would certainly be interesting. It’s important to remember that the Blues do have a £67million buy-back clause if they wanted to give Abraham another opportunity in the Premier League but with the way Lukaku’s return has unfolded, in spite of the optimism surrounding the deal at the time, Marina Granovskaia and co may not take such a big monetary risk, with the likes of Armando Broja and others already at the disposal of the current European and World Champions.