Striker Tammy Abraham is hoping to impress for Chelsea during the upcoming season. The 21-year-old spent last season on loan with Aston Villa in the Championship and was highly impressive as he helped to fire the Villains to promotion.
He went on to score 25 goals for Dean Smith’s side from 37 appearances. Since breaking into the Blues first-team back in 2016, Abraham has gone on to make just two Premier League appearances. He has not been given a lot of opportunities as the Blues prefer generally to use tried and tested players over youth players.
“I don’t give too much away [on setting a target for goals this season],” Abraham said to reporters as reported by Yahoo.
“If I can get anywhere near what I got last season at Aston Villa I’ll be more than happy.
“Obviously it’s about the team, score goals and help the team as much as possible and I’m happy. Now the first goal’s out of the way, now it’s about pushing on and trying to get more.”
He however looks set to be granted opportunities next season. The England international will also have an opportunity to stake a claim to be first-choice striker for the club. The departure of Gonzalo Higuain this summer means that Abraham, Olivier Giroud and Michy Batshuayi will be the three recognized strikers in the squad ahead of the new season.
Giroud is past his peak and it remains to be seen whether he will mainly be deployed for Cup games as was the case last season. Batshuayi is still largely unproven at Stamford Bridge following his arrival in 2016. Though it is uncertain whether Lampard will use Abraham as his first-choice striker, he will likely give him opportunities to impress.
Abraham proved himself in the Championship
Abraham is certainly a proven Championship player. In addition to his stint with Villa last season, he also had a successful loan stint in the second-tier with Bristol City during the 2016/17 campaign. During that campaign, he went on to score 23 goals from 41 appearances for the Robbins. He had a Premier League loan spell with Swansea City during the 2017-18 season and went on to score just five goals.
While that spell was unsuccessful, he would have grown since then and the experience would have made him stronger. Overall, Abraham has the makings of a star and has drawn comparisons to former Manchester United and England star Wayne Rooney.
