John Terry revealed he didn’t want to play against Tammy Abraham during Chelsea training.
Aston Villa Assistant Manager John Terry spoke highly of the striker Tammy Abraham when he was at Aston Villa. The English International is the current top scorer of the Premier League with seven goals from five games, on par with Sergio Aguero.
Frank Lampard, the current Chelsea boss, made it a compulsion to keep Tammy Abraham at Chelsea. The striker received a handful number of offers on the table, but he decided to work his sleeve out in the pre-season to gain the manager’s trust at Chelsea. Frank Lampard was hesitant to start the youngster in the opening game, but his reward by starting him over the last four games has truly paid off.
The 21-year-old spent a year on loan at Aston Villa, where his reputation increased sky-high. He scored 26 goals from 40 appearances in all competitions under the management of Dean Smith at Villa Park. At the opposite end, Frank Lampard, the then Derby County manager, was keeping tabs on the youngster’s form.
When Chelsea came calling for his signature following Maurizio Sarri’s reluctance to carry on during the pre-season, the former Chelsea number eight didn’t think twice about signing as a manager. The club is currently hit with a transfer ban and this has forced them to hand chances to their academy graduates. The likes of Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount, and Fikayo Tomori are starting games every week.
Terry, who’s currently the assistant to Dean Smith, spoke highly of Tammy Abraham when the duo spent time at Aston Villa last season.
The former Chelsea centre-back said: “He has been incredible. Obviously, I know him well and played against him at Chelsea. He’s one of those players from the academy to train with the first team.
“Me and Cahill used to look at each other and say ‘Here we go!’ because you know he’s going to come over and put himself about. He will run the channels, score goals, be hungry, be passionate. As older aged players always wanted a nice easy day against middle-aged players, but Tammy always possesses a big threat while coming up against us and go on to do really well, which is the will.
“The thing I most like about Tammy is on the side he’s scoring goals, but he’s similar to that during the week. During the five-a-side game, he scores a goal, runs away and punches the air. For me, you can’t teach that in people, which comes from within and that’s the kind of people we want around the group – players who have that fire and the will to win day in day out. He certainly got that.”
Chelsea will take on Valencia in the Champions League Group Stages in Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.
