Aston Villa have one foot in the Wembley final of the Championship’s promotion playoffs after Saturday’s 2-1 semifinal first leg win over West Bromwich Albion, a win that was sealed with a penalty by Chelsea loanee Tammy Abraham, who had recovered in time from an injury that caused him to miss the last three games of the regular season. It was Abraham’s 26th goal of the season, which has certainly met expectations overall.
Not that anything less was ever expected. The 21-year-old had already proven himself at this level two seasons prior, with Bristol City, but his move to Villa was never about that. Abraham was set to be Chelsea’s third striker of the season, but opportunities looked to be scarce behind Álvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud. So the idea was to get consistent playing time and score lots of goals while leading Villa’s promotion charge. Former manager Steve Bruce bet the season on the young striker, as did Bruce’s replacement, Dean Smith. So far, it’s mostly gone to plan, and with Chelsea legend John Terry re-joining Villa as part of the coaching staff, their season could yet end in a glorious return to the Premier League.
Should they achieve that, they will be hoping stay there with the help of Tammy Abraham. According to the Telegraph, Villa “will” be looking to make that move, valued at around £25m for the Chelsea kid should they achieve promotion in a couple weeks’ time.
Aston Villa looking to sign Chelsea loanee Tammy Abraham for £25m if they secure Premier League promotion https://t.co/aObJdRLrMP
— Telegraph Football (@TeleFootball) May 12, 2019
Abraham is already generating interest from various for-sure Premier League teams as well, including Newcastle United, but there’s also still the possibility of him playing a role at Chelsea next season. (And there’s of course the possibility of another loan move as well, with the youngster’s Chelsea contract only expiring in 2022.)
The Blues will supposedly pick up Olivier Giroud’s one-year extension, but Gonzalo Higuaín will likely be leaving, with or without the transfer ban in place. Should the ban be suspended for the summer following the CAS appeal, Chelsea could yet move for someone like Luka Jović, but a strikeforce of Jović and Giroud and/or Abraham would actually be quite fantastic.