West Ham lead Aston Villa in race for ex-Chelsea wonderkid

Tom Weber

Updated: 12 Jun 2024 09:36 CDT
3 min read

Julen Lopetegui, West Ham, Unai Emery, Aston Villa — © IMAGO

West Ham are interested in signing Tammy Abraham, according to Italian media.

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The former Chelsea youngster managed to reignite his career after swapping England for Italy and joining Roma. In 2021/22, Abraham netted a whopping 27 goals for the capital club, but recent seasons have not gone to plan.

The 26-year-old missed most of last term due to an ACL injury and the Roma hierarchy, led by coach Daniele de Rossi and new sporting director Florent Ghisolfi, have deemed the striker surplus to requirements.

Roma are concerned about their Financial Fair Play situation and have ambitious plans for the upcoming transfer window, with Juventus winger Federico Chiesa heavily linked in recent days, though it seems he is more keen on joining Napoli.

Abraham could generate a fair bit of money for the Serie A giants and he has no shortage of suitors.

West Ham battle Villa

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, both West Ham and Aston Villa are keen on securing the Englishman's signature. The Hammers are thought to be leading the race, with Villa themselves first needing to make sales before they can go splashing the cash again, hence why they are surprisingly trying to offload Douglas Luiz.

West Ham are looking for a long-term successor for veteran Michail Antonio, while Unai Emery's Champions League-bound Villans will potentially need a replacement for backup forward Jhon Duran, who is in talks with Chelsea.

Roma expect to only receive around €22 million to €25m, which is a far cry from the €42.5m they paid for Abraham in 2021. The 26-year-old is still under contract until 2026 with the Giallorossi, but he may have played his last game for the Italian side. The ex-Chelsea youngster played just 318 minutes last season, netting once.