Former Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham has ended his fourteen-year association with the London club by moving to the Italian league with AS Roma on a permanent basis for a fee in the region of €40 million in spite of interest from FC Barcelona, Arsenal and West Ham United.
Abraham started his career with Chelsea and was a key member of their golden youth team that won the UEFA Youth League and FA Youth Cup double in successive seasons in 2015 and 2016. The striker made his debut for the club in a 1-1 draw against Liverpool in the 2015-16 season under Guus Hiddink. The youngster was then farmed out on loan to Bristol City, Swansea City and Aston Villa, helping the latter side return to the English Premier League in 2019. Following Chelsea’s transfer ban and appointment of Frank Lampard as manager in 2019-20, Abraham was thrust into the first team, and the 23-year-old scored 30 goals in 82 appearances for the first team over the next two seasons, earning a series of England call-ups before being deemed surplus to requirements by new manager Thomas Tuchel after the German replaced Lampard as manager of the club.
Abraham moves to AS Roma after a successful spell with his boyhood club in which he contributed 30 goals and 12 assists in 82 appearances and won both the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Super Cup, and reached the FA Cup final in both of his seasons as the club’s striker. According to Sky Italia, Abraham was approached by FC Barcelona as a potential new striker in the days leading up to his transfer to AS Roma, but the striker was not interested in a move to the Nou Camp. He was also wanted by Arsenal, but the club could not place an offer for him because they were unable to move on both Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette. West Ham United and Aston Villa were said to be interested in signing the England international earlier in the transfer window before deciding against a move for the striker.
AS Roma would pay Chelsea €40 million for the striker in instalments, with €5 million due to be paid this summer and the rest of the fee to be paid in instalments until the summer of 2024. Chelsea retains a buyback option of €80 million, and also a significant percentage of any future sale. The striker is set to earn a salary €4 million annually. He joins fellow academy graduate Fikayo Tomori in moving to the Italian Serie A after the defender joined AC Milan in January 2021 on an initial loan before the move was made permanent for around £25 million. Roma manager Jose Mourinho was said to have played a significant role in bringing the striker to the Stadio Olimpico.
