Tammy Abraham nears first England call up as Gareth Southgate watches on
Chelsea loanee Tammy Abraham could earn his first call-up for England national team as Gareth Southgate considers calling the forward.
The 20-year-old has won 13 caps for England Under-21 and is targeting a step up to the senior side rather than pursuing a switch to Nigeria, for whom he will be eligible until he wins a senior England cap.
Southgate watched Abraham play for Swansea last Saturday away to Arsenal, where he created the visitors’ opening goal for Sam Clucas and had a ‘goal’ ruled out for offside, and the manager is considering naming him in his squad to play Germany and Brazil next month.
According to Time Times, Southgate considers Abraham to be a potential World Cup bolter even if he does not make his next squad, which will be announced on Thursday.
While Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford are certainties to travel to Russia and Jamie Vardy is likely to make it, one or two striking slots are up for grabs. Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck’s repeated injury problems may count against them, as may Jermain Defoe’s age as he approaches his 36th birthday.
Abraham’s commitment is also a relief for the FA, which, despite the success of the age-group teams, has seen Nigeria pick off former England youth internationals such as Victor Moses, Alex Iwobi, Sone Aluko, Shola Ameobi and Ola Aina in recent years.
Since joining Swansea in the summer he has scored four Premier League goals in nine starts, a figure all the more impressive given his loan club have scored only seven goals in total.
