How Tammy Abraham has Transformed his Career at Roma

Tammy Abraham was a player out of favour at Chelsea. Thomas Tuchel had just conquered Europe and with the signing of Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan, Abraham knew he would fall even further down the pecking order.

In comes the Special One, who in his second spell in Italian football with AS Roma after claiming all at Inter in the late 2000s.

Mourinho decided to sign the Chelsea forward for £34 million on a five-year contract for his new side, Roma. 27 goal involvements across all competitions later, we delve into how the Englishman is tearing up Serie A and how he could be the star man for Gareth Southgate’s side in the near future.

Five years ago, it was unheard of that an Englishman could not only test themselves in Europe, but thrive in the biggest leagues in the world. Long gone the days of Gary Lineker scoring a hat-trick in El Clasico or Paul Gascoigne moving to Lazio, when teams in Serie A dominated the European game.

These trends were also carried on with the likes of Steve McManaman, Michael Owen and David Beckham all going on to ply their trades at Real Madrid, however, examples are far and few between when comparing England international footballers compared to that of Spain or France.

The player to take the plunge to start the second British invasion of Europe was Jadon Sancho. Disgruntled at the lack of first-team opportunities under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, the Londoner took the gamble of moving to Borussia Dortmund, a team notorious for nurturing young talents such as Robert Lewandowski and Mario Gotze. 89 goal involvements in 104 Bundesliga games later, Sancho is now showing his undeniable talent in the Premier League.

Come the first day of the season, just five days after Abraham had arrived in the Eternal City, Mourinho had seen enough of Abraham’s potential, giving him a start at the Stadio Olimpico. The Portuguese's trust in his new number nine proved worthwhile, with Abraham providing two assists as Roma eased to a 3-1 win over a talented Fiorentina side.

His next few months in Italy showed that he had potential, but it may take longer for him to prove his full potential, providing just four goals and one assist. The majority of these came against teams all in the bottom half, as well as teams fighting relegation such as Venezia and Salernitana.

Abraham spoke about settling in, stating “At first, it takes time to get used to a new country”. Mourinho always had the belief in his striker and recognised the courage to challenge himself saying “It’s not easy to leave England but he is doing well”.

Arguably Abraham’s defining moment in his fledgling Serie A career was on the 18th December, when Roma travelled to an Atalanta side who had just won six league games on the bounce.

A run through Atalanta’s backline culminating in a right-footed dink, followed by a right-footed shot across goal gave the Giallorossi a comfortable 4-1 win in Bergamo and announced Abraham as a striker who Italian defenders should be wary of.

Abraham has not looked back since this spellbinding performance, contributing 11 goals in his last 12 Serie A games to help Roma close the gap on the Champions League places.

His huge goal involvements have highlighted how much the 24-year-old has improved in Italian football. Averaging almost double the shots per game in comparison to last year, 1.5 to 2.9, there’s no wonder that Abraham already has nine more league goals in comparison to his last season at Chelsea. His build-up play has also dramatically picked up, averaging 0.7 more key passes per game this campaign.

Stats like this will be making Tuchel think as to whether he made a mistake in letting Abraham leave to play in the Italian capital. This is heightened especially when you look at his replacement, Romelu Lukaku, struggling to readapt in the Premier League, contributing 13 fewer goal involvements as the Belgian struggles to get ahead of their German star, Kai Havertz.

One man who’s been keeping a keen eye on Tammy’s rise is England manager, Gareth Southgate. Naming Abraham in his latest England squad, Southgate has already seen what the Roma striker can provide, scoring two goals in his four caps so far for the Three Lions. His high aerial presence as well as his ability to pick out a key ball could see him be the natural replacement for Harry Kane.

Tammy Abraham took the plunge to play for Roma and under Jose Mourinho. After almost completing his first season, the man adored by the Roma fans is thriving and showing his potential as a top striker.