Tammy Abraham admits he was initially reluctant to leave the Premier League and his boyhood club Chelsea but says Jose Mourinho convinced him that joining Roma was the right move.
The England international has scored four goals in ten games for Roma – while hitting the crossbar six times – since his £34m move from Stamford Bridge over the summer.
Abraham spent over a decade at Chelsea’s academy and then made 82 appearances – scoring 30 goals – for the first team after his debut in 2016.
The 24-year-old fell down the pecking order after Thomas Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard as manager midway through the 2020-21 season and barely featured as the Blues won the Champions League and reached the FA Cup final.
‘I feel like it was home, being around London, being around England. It was home,’ said Abraham.
‘I think I had to open my wings a bit and make a choice and I chose Italy and would not change it.’
Abraham says he had ‘different options’ once he decided to leave Chelsea, but a phone call with Mourinho helped convince him to join Serie A side Roma.
‘I had different options,’ said Abraham, who was named in England’s squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Hungary.
‘There were so many clubs I was speaking to at the time. Italy came and I spoke to Jose. He had a goal.
‘I could see where he wanted Roma to go and see where he wants to take them and I wanted to be part of the process. He really put his trust in me so he was a big impact on the reason why I chose Roma.
‘The first thing he said to me was when I picked up the phone he was like “do you want to enjoy some sun or stay in the rain?” I laughed.’
Abraham admits he ‘didn’t really understand’ why he was not in Chelsea’s first-team plans under Tuchel but says his decision to leave and sign for Roma already feels like ‘the right one’.
‘I think the easy option would’ve been to stick around and sit down,’ the striker added.
‘Chelsea’s a massive club, they will compete and try to win trophies so the easy option would’ve been to do that.
‘I realised that I needed to go out and prove myself, I needed to play some games. I took a decision and it was the right one.’
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