"That kid will score goals for whoever he plays for"- Jody Morris suggests Chelsea may have made a mistake by letting go of 'top player'
Former Chelsea footballer Jody Morris has praised Tammy Abraham while aiming a subtle dig at the Blues for letting him go.
Thomas Tuchel's side brought in Romelu Lukaku on a club-record deal last summer. To balance their books, the Premier League giants sold Abraham to AS Roma for around £34 million.
Morris took to Twitter to praise Abraham last night, writing:
"While I’m talking about top players…Hows Tammy Abraham doing??! That kid (not a kid anymore) will score goals for whoever he plays for!! Must be the highest scoring Englishman in the top 5 leagues??"
While I’m talking about top players…Hows Tammy Abraham doing??! That kid (not a kid anymore) will score goals for whoever he plays for!!
Must be the highest scoring Englishman in the top 5 leagues??
Incidentally, the 24-year-old is the highest-scoring Three Lions player across Europe's top five leagues. With his brace against Empoli over the weekend, Abraham is up to 17 goals across all competitions for Roma.
Ten of those goals have come in Serie A to help Jose Mourinho's side occupy sixth spot in the standings. They have collected 38 points from 23 matches and are just five points off the final UEFA Champions League spot.
Abraham was particularly impressive in the UEFA Conference League, netting six goals in as many appearances for Roma in the competition. Interestingly, he started only three of those matches and roughly averaged a goal every 50 minutes.
Tammy Abraham was deemed surplus to requirements at Chelsea
Abraham is yet another product of Chelsea's famed Cobham academy and came up through the ranks before being promoted to the first team in 2017. He was sent on loan to Swansea City for the 2017-18 season, during which he scored eight goals and assisted seven more.
The forward was loaned out once more, this time to Aston Villa, for the 2018-19 season. Abraham played a vital role, scoring 25 goals in 37 EFL Championship matches, to help the Villans secure promotion to the Premier League.
He finally got his big break at Chelsea when new boss Frank Lampard chose to keep him with the first-team squad for the 2019-20 season.
Abraham began the campaign brilliantly but tapered off towards the end. He ended up with 18 goals and six assists in 47 matches across all competitions during the campaign.
Champions Of Europe!
Dreams do come true 💙 Champions Of Europe! https://t.co/VoUDHL9bFs
However, Lampard's departure significantly reduced Abraham's playing time during the 2020-21 season. While he managed 12 goals in 32 appearances and won the UEFA Champions League, he didn't seem to fit into new Chelsea manager Tuchel's philosophy.
This ultimately saw Abraham move to Roma at the start of the ongoing campaign and he has flourished so far in Italy under Mourinho.