Aston Villa hero explains why Tammy Abraham has made him 'sad'

Tammy Abraham scored 25 Championship goals for Aston Villa last season and will now be hoping to prove himself in the Premier League with Chelsea?

Tammy Abraham and Tyrone Mings of Aston Villa celebrates at the full-time during the Sky Bet Championship match between Birmingham City v Aston Villa at St Andrew's Trillion Trophy Stadium...

Former Aston Villa striker Dean Saunders admits that he would be ‘sad’ to see Tammy Abraham sitting on the bench for Chelsea next season, speaking on the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast on talkSPORT (30 July, 9:00am).

After a three-year absence, Aston Villa sealed a return to the Premier League in May thanks largely to the remarkable goalscoring exploits of Abraham.

The England international spent last season on loan at Villa Park from Chelsea and thrived, scoring 26 goals in 40 games in all competitions.

But any hope Villa had of signing him permanently disappeared once Chelsea were hit with a transfer ban.

With no hope of bringing an established centre-forward to Stamford Bridge this summer, new manager Frank Lampard has instead decided to promote Abraham to the first-team and hand him the number nine shirt.

Though while Abraham has his heart set on making his mark at the top of the European game in West London, Saunders believes the 21-year-old might have been better off staying at Villa.

“It makes me sad. He’s going to go back to Chelsea and not start. He was playing for Villa, had a massive crowd and a manger who loved him. He was starting every week and he’s never had that in his career, he’s always been a bit-part player,” Saunders said.

Head Coach Frank Lampard Jnr talsk to Tammy Abraham of Chelsea during the Pre-Season Friendly match between Reading and Chelsea at Madejski Stadium on July 28, 2019 in Reading, England.