Tammy Abraham to Milan: A Change of Scenery Fit For All Parties
From Olivier Giroud to Álvaro Morata, from Fikayo Tomori to Christian Pulisic to Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Milan have certainly taken an interest in signing ex-Chelsea players in recent years. The latest ex-Chelsea man to take his talents to the Rossoneri is Tammy Abraham, who has made the move to Milan for the 2024/25 season.
Born in Camberwell to Nigerian parents, Abraham spent 15 years at Chelsea (including loan spells with Bristol City, Swansea City and Aston Villa) before leaving for Roma on a permanent deal in 2021. He joined for an initial fee of £34 million, with Chelsea reserving a £68m buyback clause which could only be triggered after the player had spent two seasons at the club.
Whilst his replacement Romelu Lukaku failed to convince at Chelsea, Abraham hit the ground running under José Mourinho in his debut campaign. He scored 17 goals in 34 Serie A matches as well as 9 goals in 14 European matches as Roma took home the first-ever edition of the UEFA Europa Conference League. It seemed that it was only a matter of time before the Blues triggered their buyback clause and brought him back to Stamford Bridge.
However, Abraham’s form took a turn for the worse in 2022/23, causing him to miss out on a selection for the FIFA World Cup. With the Roma attack configured around new signing Paulo Dybala, Abraham struggled to adapt to this supplementary role and managed just nine goals in 54 appearances as Roma sputtered to yet another sixth-place finish and fell to Sevilla in the UEFA Europa League Final. Rather than making the headlines for his stellar performances, Abraham was now going viral for his inexcusable misses in front of goal.
After suffering a heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat in Budapest, only one match remained for Roma in the 2022/23 campaign: Spezia. Roma would fall behind within six minutes, equalize before the break via Nicola Zalewski, and pull off a late victory thanks to Dybala’s stoppage time penalty goal. Spezia would proceed to face off against Hellas Verona in Serie A’s first relegation playoff in 18 years, where they lost 3-1 in Reggio Emilia.
However, the most consequential event from Roma’s match vs. Spezia would take place in the 80th minute. Abraham, having replaced Andrea Belotti in the second half, would last just a quarter-hour before colliding with his former Chelsea teammate Ethan Ampadu and tearing his ACL.
In doing so, Roma were robbed of a potential big-money transfer — having garnered interest from the likes of Everton and Aston Villa over a return to the Premier League, Abraham would be remaining in Rome for the foreseeable future. Instead, it would be Roger Ibañez who served as the cash cow, with the Brazilian defender joining Al-Ahli for €30 million. Roma, meanwhile, would reinforce at the center forward position by signing Sardar Azmoun and Lukaku on loan.
After more than ten months out, Abraham made his return on April 6, 2024 — this time under Daniele De Rossi rather than Mourinho. Within three weeks, Abraham was back on the score sheet, firing in a close-range header in the 88th minute to snatch a 2-2 draw at Napoli. All in all, Abraham would score just one goal in 12 appearances — most of which came off the bench — and he continued to draw the ire of Roma supporters with his lack of end product.
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The following match, Abraham replaced Dybala in the 91st minute with Bayer Leverkusen leading 2-0 in Germany. After goalkeeper Matej Kovar failed to clear the danger, Abraham would head the ball over the post was the goal was gaping — Leverkusen would go on to draw 2-2 in the second leg to comfortably progress to the UEFA Europa League Final. Abraham would replace Lukaku in the 68th minute of their next match, missing a one-on-one opportunity from a seemingly unmissable position and squandering another would-be winner as Juventus held Roma to a 1-1 stalemate.
The memes and compilation videos began to resurface on social media, painting Abraham as a clumsy, inefficacious striker who was proving to be more of a liability than an asset. With Roma spending heavily in the summer window, including the purchase of La Liga top scorer Artem Dovbyk for €33 million, Abraham’s days in Roma were numbered. He replaced Dovbyk in the 90th minute of their opener and gave the ball away twice in his brief cameo — one of which nearly led to Cagliari opening the scoring in stoppage time.
Abraham was left on the bench in their following match vs. Empoli and watched as Eldor Shomurodov came off the bench and scored in the 80th minute of their 2-1 loss to Empoli. The writing was on the wall for him, and whilst plenty of teams like Everton and West Ham showcased interest, it was Milan who completed the signing of Abraham on deadline day. Whilst Abraham joined Milan on a paid loan for €1.5 million, Alexis Saelemaekers went the other way for a free loan (neither include an option or obligation to buy).
So far, it’s looking to be money well spent for Milan. Within seconds of making his Milan debut, Abraham set up Rafael Leão’s equalizer to secure a 2-2 draw at Lazio. Paulo Fonseca rewarded him by giving him the start vs. Venezia, with Theo Hernández and Youssouf Fofana scoring within the first 16 minutes and Abraham winning a penalty after being brought down by Venezia goalkeeper Jesse Joronen, enabling Pulisic to convert from the spot. Leão won a penalty on the cusp of the half-hour and gave the ball to Abraham, who sent Joronen the wrong way and put the finishing touches on a 4-0 victory.
Abraham looked at home on Saturday evening at the San Siro, leading the line with Pulisic and Leão on either side of him, and he even played a few minutes in a two-striker partnership alongside Morata. Having finally claimed their first win under Fonseca, Milan looked headed for another victory after taking the lead within three minutes in their UEFA Champions League opener, but Liverpool would quickly turn the tide and score three straight goals. Abraham replaced Loftus-Cheek in the 69th minute with Liverpool leading 3-1, but he was unable to inspire a late comeback for the hosts.
Once considered one of the brightest young strikers in Europe, it’s easy to forget that Abraham is still just 26 years old. Things had gone stale for him at Roma, and he would often looked frustrated and dejected whenever he missed a golden opportunity. But whereas a bad miss would dent his confidence at Roma, today, Abraham looks reinvented and full of confidence in the red and black shirt of Milan.
Having amassed 11 appearances for the England national team, Abraham has not played for the Three Lions since June 2022, but if he can continue to build on his strong start, it may only be a matter of time before Lee Carsley brings him back into the fold. The biggest test of his chapter at Milan will come on Sunday, as the Rossoneri face off against defending champions Inter. If they lose, it could very well spell an early exit for Fonseca as Milan manager.
By: Scot Munroe / @scot_munroe
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Robin Jones – AFC Bournemouth