Aston Villa target Tammy Abraham is likely to leave Roma this summer with Jose Mourinho’s side eyeing a Premier League replacement in Liverpool veteran Roberto Firmino, according to Calciomercato.
He may only be 25 years of age, but Abraham already has his fair share of experience when it comes to the fickle nature of top-level football. In the blink of an eye, he went from Chelsea’s number one centre-forward under Frank Lampard to the forgotten man of Stamford Bridge under Thomas Tuchel.
From England squad regular to persona non grata.
And, after capping his debut season at AS Roma with 27 goals, Abraham appears to be suffering from that dreaded ‘second season syndrome’ in the Italian capital. Just seven in 38 games. A tally so underwhelming that, according to Calciomercato, Roma are now willing to sell for a fraction of the price they were demanding 12 months earlier.
Aston Villa target Tammy Abraham could leave Roma
“A lot is always expected of him,” Roma director Tiago Pinto told Gazzetta dello Sport a couple of months ago. “He knows he has to do much better from now to the end (of the season). Tammy is essential for a competitive and successful Roma.”
Well, maybe not ‘essential’.
Abraham, Calciomercato add, has lost the trust of the famously volatile Jose Mourinho; playing only 23 minutes during Sunday’s 1-0 Rome derby defeat to Lazio. In fact, he’s only started one of the club’s last five Serie A matches.
A summer sale will be considered, then. So long as the likes of Aston Villa are willing to stump up around £40 million, that is. Chelsea have a buy-back clause in Abraham’s contract. But Aston Villa are reportedly showing ‘more interest’ than anyone else at this stage.
Abraham scored 26 goals during a fabulous loan spell at Villa Park in 2018/19. Should he return, the Camberwell-born poacher would help ease the goalscoring burden on fellow England international Ollie Watkins.
Tammy Abraham out, Roberto Firmino in?
Calciomercato believe that Mourinho is eyeing two high-profile, vastly experienced free-agents to potentially fill the attacking void. Roberto Firmino has already confirmed he will be leaving Liverpool in July. Wilfried Zaha, meanwhile, appears to be in the end-zone of his Crystal Palace career.
“Yes, he told me (he’s going to leave),” Klopp said following the announcement of Firmino’s departure. “Surprised? Yes, a little bit but I was not hit by surprise, actually it’s a normal thing to do.
“It could go two ways and it was one. And I respect that a lot. It’s completely normal in this kind of long relationship that we have and Bobby has with the club and with most of the players and stuff like this, and with the fans of course.
“It’s pretty special and I loved the reception he got when he came on against United. He told me and then the only other thing he said is, ‘Now I want to bring this wonderful story to a positive end.’ So, that’s it. He is completely here and completely committed, how everybody can imagine. And that’s all we need to know.
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