Roma Agree £34m Deal To Sign Tammy Abraham

 

Chelsea would prefer to sell Abraham to a foreign team than a Premier League rival; 23-year-old striker fell out of favour at Stamford Bridge after Thomas Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard; Arsenal also interested in signing England forward.

Roma have agreed a £34m deal to sign Tammy Abraham from Chelsea, reports Sky in Italy.

The 23-year-old striker must now decide if he wants to join the Italian club, who are managed by former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.

Fellow Serie A side Atalanta and Arsenal are also interested in Abraham, but Chelsea’s preference is to sell him to a foreign club, making a move to their London rivals less likely.

Abraham fell out of favour at Chelsea midway through last season as Thomas Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard as head coach and was left out of the squad for May’s Champions League final, despite being fully fit.

The imminent arrival of Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan is set to push Abraham further down the pecking order and all but end the possibility of him staying at Stamford Bridge.

Despite his limited game-time during the second half of last season, Abraham ended the campaign as Chelsea’s joint-top scorer with 12 goals.

He has featured in each of Chelsea’s three pre-season friendlies and could be involved as they take on Villarreal in the Super Cup final on Wednesday.

Mourinho was in charge at Stamford Bridge as Abraham was coming through the Chelsea academy, but the forward didn’t make his first senior appearance for the Blues until after the Portuguese had left the club.

Abraham’s form for Chelsea under Lampard saw him feature for England in Euro 2020 qualifying and in their most recent Nations League campaign, but a lack of playing time under Tuchel saw him fall out of Gareth Southgate’s plans in the months before this summer’s tournament.