Aston Villa should hold onto Tammy Abraham for as long as they can
Aston Villa manager Dean Smith is unsure about the future of on-loan Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham. The 21-year-old Englishman has been in devastating form for the Villans this term and this has led to Chelsea considering recalling their asset in the January transfer window. Meanwhile, Premier League outfit Crystal Palace have also expressed an interest in signing the forward. (h/t Sky Sports)
Asked about Abraham’s situation, the manager said (h/t Sky Sports):
“I’ve no idea about the contract situation if I am honest. All we can do is work with him, we have a good relationship with Chelsea. Eddie Newton [Chelsea’s loan technical coach] was up here over a month ago, looking and checking at his development.
“He’s been developing with us all the time. He is enjoying his football and I think that is a big thing in the development of the young lad’s future. He wants to go and keep scoring goals for us and that’s what we are in control of at the moment.”
A product of the Chelsea academy, Abraham has previously had loan spells away at Bristol City and Swansea City. While his time with the Robins was a roaring success, injuries hampered him to some extent with the Swans in the 2017/18 campaign. Yet, the 21-year-old finished with 8 goals and 5 assists in 39 matches in all competitions.
With Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud at his disposal, Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri deemed fit to let Abraham leave on a temporary spell and Aston Villa were able to clinch his signing on a season-long loan deal on the transfer deadline day.
Since his move to the Villa Park, the 21-year-old has been in sensational form. So far in his 16 Championship appearances, Abraham has netted 12 goals – eight of which have come in his last six appearances – and has set up one more.
The Chelsea loanee became the first Villa player to score four goals in a single Championship game in the 21st century in the 5-5 draw against Nottingham Forest last month and went on to lift the EFL Championship Player of the Month award for the same month.
Scoring at an impressive rate of a goal every 112 minutes in the second division, the England U21 international has scored almost 28% of Villa’s goals in the Championship this term. The striker has been one of the chief driving forces behind the Villans’ resurrection under Dean Smith, following their dull start to the campaign.
And losing such a pivotal part of the team, at a stage where they are close to making their way back into contention for the playoff spots could prove to be disastrous for Villa. And as a result, they must do everything in their power to ensure that Abraham doesn’t leave the Villa Park midway through the campaign.
