“Test the waters”- Former Chelsea star explains why he decided to leave Stamford Bridge

AS Roma star Tammy Abraham reveals the circumstances that led to his Chelsea exit

AS Roma star Tammy Abraham has revealed the circumstances which eventually led to his exit from Chelsea in the previous summer. The striker has enjoyed life in Italy since then, and he has quickly become a fan favourite under the guidance of Jose Mourinho.

Abraham left the Blues to join Roma on a five-year contract after £34million was paid to finalise the transfer. He had struggled to earn a spot under Thomas Tuchel before the move. The centre-forward was snubbed despite dropping solid displays whenever he was given the chance to make a case for himself. However, he would certainly be happy with how things turned out to be looking at his current performances.

Speaking in an interview with TalkSPORT (h/t Daily Mail Online), the Englishman has expressed that Mourinho did play a part in his decision to join the Italian side. However, the forward did add that he had no intentions to leave the Premier League initially but was convinced by his family to think about offers from abroad.

Chelsea made a mistake?

He admits that Mourinho’s presence at Roma played its part while his well-wishers too urged him to try something new by moving abroad. It is fair to say that the Englishman has done justice to those expectations.

“It [Mourinho] was a factor involved, yes. Rome came along and Atalanta and many different teams around the world, I was telling myself I wanted to stay in the Premier League and that I had something to prove. But my dad, parents and agent sat me down and said, ‘you scored goals at Chelsea, Swansea and Bristol City, go and test the waters, go and experience life abroad’.”

The attacker also conveyed how he reached the final stance after thinking about the challenge that awaited him in Serie A. After all, there have not been many players who left England for Italy to make a name for themselves.

“When they were speaking it kind of dawned on me that not many players can say they’ve gone out in Italy, to Serie A and a team like Rome. I never back down from a challenge so when this challenge came along I thought as I’m still young this is the best time for me to go and do it.”

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With hindsight, one can easily question whether it was the right decision made by the West London club or Tuchel. The likes of Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku have struggled to even perform consistently so far. Abraham, on the other hand, has arguably performed better than them during his time with the Blues.

Werner has just seven goals and four assists this season from 29 matches across all competitions. Lukaku, meanwhile, has 12 goals and two assists to his name from 35 games in similar criteria. In contrast, Abraham has scored 23 times and assisted four goals from 41 appearances during the same timeframe across all competitions. Clearly, the numbers speak for themselves.

Fortunately enough, we can trigger a buy-back clause that the club inserted when they sold Abraham to Mourinho’s side last summer. We will need to part ways with £67million, though, plus the option would activate only in the summer of 2023. We may have to assess a future move if Lukaku and Werner continue to struggle moving forward.