Chelsea and Man Utd set for €80m battle over six-goal striker

Robin Bairner

• 6 Mar 2023 08:01 GMT
• 3 min read

Manchester United and Chelsea will both be in the summer transfer market for a No.9 and could raid the club of a former manager to secure a solution to their problems in the form of a striker who has gone off the boil this season.

Man Utd have been without a top-class focal point to lead their attack since Cristiano Ronaldo – himself a misfit under manager Erik ten Hag – departed the club in November, while Chelsea have proven woefully short of firepower this season despite a transfer splurge of more than £600 million in the last two windows.

According to The Athletic, both retain a strong interest in Roma striker Tammy Abraham, who of course was on the Blues’ books before making a €40m switch to Serie A in the summer of 2021, when he was made surplus to requirements by Thomas Tuchel.

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After scoring 27 times last season, the bottom has fallen out of Abraham’s form this term and he has managed a disappointing return of just six goals in Serie A.

Since the World Cup, though, there have been signs of improvement. Abraham has scored half of his tally since the international competition, although he is presently on a four-game drought, having been left on the bench in the last three of these league encounters.

Meanwhile, the 25-year-old has suffered from Roma adopting a less attacking approach compared to last season, with the more conservative nature of their performances not suiting his attributes as pure No.9.

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Why Chelsea and Man Utd want struggling Abraham

Indeed, it appears that both Chelsea and Man Utd are ready to overlook Abraham’s relative drought ahead of a possible summer transfer, trusting that his underlying numbers remain encouraging given his relative lack of service at Roma this season.

The Blues have a buy-back clause of €80m in his contract, which is significantly above Abraham’s Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €61m, but the Stamford Bridge club haven’t let such things stop them under the ownership of Todd Boehly.

From Man Utd’s perspective, this type of fee represents a significant cut compared to Napoli’s Victor Osiminhen or Tottenham’s Harry Kane, who are purported to be their primary targets, so in a summer of uncertainty over their ownership, he may be seen as a smaller bet.

In any case, Abraham’s name is one that will hit football transfer news headlines regularly in the summer, and Chelsea and Man Utd are likely to be there or thereabouts for the Roma man.