There is little doubt that Chelsea youngster Tammy Abraham is a man in demand. One thing puts him there – goals.
The young striker, whilst not being able to break into the Blues side, has shone pretty much everywhere he’s been on loan. His glut of goals in a struggling Bristol City side was evidence of his deadly nature in front of goal.
He also impressed on a temporary deal with Swansea. Now, well now it is the turn of Aston Villa to see the benefit of the young forward’s acumen in front of goal. 16 times Abraham has scored in the half-season that he’s been at Villa Park, a total good enough to put him joint-top of the Championship goal-scoring charts.
It is also a total that has opened the eyes of interested suitors, putting VIlla’s hold on him at risk. One team making headway, and expected to land him, are Villa’s bitter rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Wolves initially wanted to buy Abraham outright, something nixed by Chelsea. Now it appears that Chelsea will recall him, breaking his loan spell at Villa, before loaning him to Premier League Wolves for the remainder of this season.
Whilst there is one hurdle to clear, in that FIFA don’t allow a player to appear for more than two clubs in one season, Wolves are confident that this will be easily overcome.
The games in question are this season’s Charity Shield and some Under-23 appearances for Chelsea – which they will argue should not be considered ‘official’ games.
Alan Nixon, reporting in The Sun, says that whilst Wolves are prepared to take Abraham on an initial loan, they do harbour ambitions of developing this further and “would like to turn the move into a full-time deal.”
Nixon also indicates the level of the deal that Wolves are proposing that would turn Abraham’s head their way. They are going to offer the Chelsea youngster a £6m-a-year deal, which works out at £120,000-per-week.
That level of wage alone would almost treble the £42,000-per-week that he is on at Stamford Bridge. If money is the motivator, then Wolves’ salary propositions are mouth-watering indeed.
Abraham moving away from Villa would also severely dent their play-off and, ultimately, promotion hopes. His 16 goals place him way ahead of anyone else at the club, the nearest challenger being Ivorian striker Jonathan Kodjia on just six goals.
Whichever way you look at this, Abraham moving away from Villa Park is a lose-lose situation for the Villans.
