Chelsea: Five talking points from Tammy Abraham’s move

3. A solution to Chelsea’s number 9 problems

One of the biggest reasons why the London side has been struggling in recent years is due to a lack of goals from the strikers. The last competent striker who played in the blue shirt was Diego Costa however, he wore the number 19 shirt, and not the famous number 9 shirt. According to the Blue’s history, several world-class strikers have failed to make an impact after wearing the cursed number. The likes of Fernando Torress, Radamel Falcao, and Alvaro Morata, all failed to live up to their expectations, and it seemed like Chelsea would have to live without a proper number nine. Tammy did manage to lift the low goal-scoring curse however, he was also inconsistent and failed to score in important matches, against top-level teams. Lukaku who was originally given the number 18, has been shifted to the number 9, and hopefully, he will be the one to break the curse forever. He is one of the best strikers in the world right now, and he has matured a lot since his last time in the Premier League. Having scored 64 goals in two seasons with Inter Milan, fans are expecting a lot from him. His time with Manchester United wasn’t very good however, he has improved physically and mentally, and we can’t wait to see him back at the bridge.

2. Abraham’s transfer helps Chelsea maintain FFP rules

The Blues were one of the top spenders last season, bringing in five big earners to the club. Kai Havertz, Hakim Ziyech, Ben Chilwell, Edouard Mendy, and Werner collectively cost the club around 200 million euros, and their wages were not low either. This made the team the biggest spenders of last season, and also one of the top clubs in terms of wages being paid. After bringing in Lukaku for a whopping 115 million euros, and making him the top earner of the club, the Blues knew they had to sell players in order to comply with the Financial Fair Play rules. Having already sold Tomori to Milan for around 30 million euros, the club was off to a good start but they needed more sales. Giroud was the next player to leave the club, and he joined Tomori for a fee of only 1 million euros. Victor Moses was then sold to Spartak Moscow for a sum of 5 million euros. Still, the Blues needed another big transfer, and Roma came through with a whopping 40 million euros. This will certainly help fund the huge Lukaku transfer, as well as, lower the wages down by a bit. The Blues have also let go of five more players in order to reduce their overall wages.

1. A New beginning for the Champions League winner

Abraham might be saying a teary goodbye to his childhood club, but he must embrace his new opportunity with open arms. The 23-year-old striker was stuck to the benches for the majority of last season, and that is not what a young and developing player needs. He does have the poacher’s instinct that every striker needs however, he needs to be more consistent with his finishing. Playing under Mourinho will be great for his future, as the Portuguese manager likes to play a more conservative, defensive style which is opposite to Tuchel’s high pressing style. This will allow Tammy to maintain his position in the opposition’s box, and he will be the target man for every ball played into the box. Apart from that, he will finally get the consistent playtime that he requires, and the Blues have a buy-back option for 80 million euros, thus if he performs well in Serie A, he could potentially end up back at Stamford Bridge.

However, for now, we wish him the very best, and hopefully one day we can see him back in a Chelsea shirt.