Could Chelsea regret letting Tammy Abraham go?

Nicholas Hughes

• Updated: 30 Aug 2021 08:58 BST
• 6 min read

Chelsea have a bit of a history of selling players that develop into superstars, namely Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne as well as Romelu Lukaku, who they have of course bought back this summer.

Tammy Abraham might just be the next entrant onto that list, with the Englishman making a brilliant start to life at Roma in Serie A.

While the €40 million move would have no doubt helped balance the finances somewhat after Lukaku’s €115m switch, Abraham is proving his worth in Italy and showing Thomas Tuchel his quality.

The 23-year-old was put straight into the starting XI by Jose Mourinho for Roma’s opening day clash with Fiorentina, providing two assists in a 3-1 win.

Abraham backed that up with another scintillating display against newly-promoted Salernitana on Sunday, netting his first goal for the club – a brilliant first-time strike from the edge of the penalty area.

He was also pivotal in the build-up to an outstanding team goal, with a couple of gorgeous touches that led to Jordan Vertetout’s finish for the second of the match.

Abraham will prove Chelsea wrong for lack of opportunities

Abraham was Chelsea’s top scorer last season until Frank Lampard was sacked as manager and his season stagnated under Tuchel.

The Englishman played only nine times under the German with just four starts, two of which resulted in half-time substitutions and another saw Abraham go off injured after just 20 minutes.

Despite the lack of minutes in the second half of the season, only Jorginho scored more than Abraham in the league – all seven of his goals were penalties – and the academy graduate managed the same goal tally as summer signing Timo Werner.

This was after Abraham had starred in the league under Lampard in the 2019/20 season, top-scoring with 15 goals and helping guide the team into the top four despite not being under a transfer ban.

It is unfortunate that, since that ban being lifted, Chelsea have spent over €100m on attackers in consecutive summer windows, freezing Abraham out of the team and meaning there was no option but for him to move on in search of first-team football.

Early signs suggest that Abraham is set to flourish in Italy this season and he could make Chelsea regret letting him go, with plenty of years at a high level ahead of him.