Aston Villa look set to sign Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham on loan before the end of the transfer window.
The striker is being heavily tipped to join Villa after an indifferent spell at Swansea City last season in the Premier League.
To find out more about the player and what Aston Villa fans can expect, we reached out to Read Chelsea’s Ryan Darby to learn more.
What have you made of Abraham’s reported move to Villa?
I’ll be honest, I was quite surprised, I don’t think Villa would have been his first choice. After his stint at Bristol City, I thought he may be done with the Championship and test himself abroad, I think that could have been his preferred destination, but the potential suitors were obviously not forthcoming.
However, with that being said, he is going to be playing in a team fighting for a serious chance at promotion and that’s a new experience for him. I’m sure John Terry would have said a few nice things about the club too.
How did he perform at Swansea last season?
I think if you look at this spell on face value you might think it was a poor season, but if you put things into context, it was a decent showing from the striker.
It was only his second season in senior football, his first in the Premier League. He scored eight times in all competitions, with five of those coming domestically.
Chelsea may have been more inclined to send him to Villa because unlike at Swansea, his team is likely to be on the front foot for most of their games.
The Swansea side was very defensive, very restrictive and for a player like Abraham, or any forward in general, that can make the game very hard.
What would he bring to the Villa squad?
You only have to look at what he did when he was at Bristol City to see what a menace he could be at this level. He scored all sorts of goals there. Even from a young age, he has been a player that knows where the back of the net is and is always alive in the box. Put the chances on a plate for him and he’ll score plenty I’m sure.
Would he start for Villa should the deal go through as expected?
Ultimately, it depends which direction Steve Bruce wants to take the side. He draws a lot of similarities to Jonathan Kodjia, so they may not be the best fit to play together on paper.
If Bruce doesn’t go for two up top, then straight away he has a job to dislodge him as the starting striker, especially after he scored twice against Brentford.
Pairing them together could certainly be an interesting fit and would put Villa’s strikeforce right up there with the best in the league, but they may counteract each other.
Does he have a future at Chelsea?
The optimist in me wants to say yes his time will come, but only a few weeks ago we were waiting to see if Chelsea would spend another £50 million plus on Gonzalo Higuain, which would have been the second consecutive summer we spent big on a forward.
When you’re chasing Premier League titles the striker is the most important position. Goals win games. The harsh reality of Abraham’s situation is that there will always be another striker that Chelsea could buy from somewhere like Spain or Germany or just ready-made for the first-team, which may not be something Chelsea fans want to hear, but that’s the way the club works.
He’ll need a spectacular season to put himself in contention for a place in the Chelsea squad and then he has to do enough to keep himself there.
