Any Chelsea sale of Tammy Abraham to another Premier League side like Aston Villa is risky and will likely come back to haunt the Blues as has been suggested here before. However, if they (whoever the “they” is that makes transfer decisions) decide that he is superfluous to the club’s needs, then the deal should be predicated on one condition. In the case of Aston Villa, that condition is perfectly clear, the deal sends Jack Grealish back to Chelsea as part of an Abraham plus cash deal.
Abraham is almost certainly destined to be a 20-goal scorer for Villa or another Premier League or any other side period, for that matter. He’s a terrific striker. Chelsea’s new manager has somehow decided that Abraham shouldn’t even be in his team on game days, even though the still very young English striker has led the team in scoring for two years running. The question as to why this situation exists has been asked before in this space and no answers from anyone have been forthcoming. It remains a mystery. Even with his squad struggling to score goals, especially from the No. 9 position, Tuchel determinedly (perhaps stubbornly and bizarrely?) refused to give Abraham any consideration whatsoever for time on the pitch.
Whatever the reason, should the Chelsea powers that be decide that Tuchel should be accorded the courtesy of making some key personnel decisions on transfers (keep in mind the Chelsea 18-month manager hiring/sacking scenario when this big decision is made), then Abraham will likely go. The fee being bandied about is $40M pounds or so. Fine. He’s worth more but it is what it is. Yet, Chelsea should balk, especially on any deal with a Premier League side, to sell a player of this caliber without another top player coming back in return. That should be a mandatory condition. And in the case of Villa, that player can only be Grealish.
Grealish is a sensational player who will only be better in a royal blue Chelsea shirt. In addition to his obvious talent, he provides a degree of toughness and attitude, that outside of Antonio Rudiger (whose own situation is in flux), really doesn’t exist on the Chelsea squad. Villa is well aware of the contribution that Abraham will make to their squad if he returns to Villa Park. They’ve already seen it in the Championship. Pencil him in for 20+ goals. Since Chelsea now can’t see that potential, the next best thing to do is hold out for Villa’s top player, Grealish.
Not only will this be an asset to the Blues on the pitch, let’s face it, Grealish is sensational, but it is also subtraction by addition. They add Grealish to the squad and they keep him from the side they want to topple from the top, Manchester City, another suitor for Grealish. It says here that Abraham is too good a player to be sold unless another top player comes back in the deal, even if Chelsea has to lay out big bucks, in addition, to make that happen.
As has been written previously, they have the opportunity to unload fringe or bench players and glean multi-millions if they so choose. Do that and they will have funds to send Abraham and cash in any deal. That player could be Grealish from Villa, or even better, it could be Erling Haaland from Dortmund. The preference here would be Haaland, but Grealish would certainly be an outstanding consolation prize. That’s the thought here. It’s quite simple, Abraham goes and someone comes back in return, someone very, very good. If there is no top player returning, there is no deal. It’s as simple as that.