Football fans across England would never have heard of Tammy Abraham this time last year, but he’s showing the world just what is capable of at Bristol City.
For Chelsea supporters, this is something that had been brewing for some time. The striker had been prolific throughout the youth systems at Cobham and was influential in the squads that lifted the FA Youth Cups and UEFA Youth Leagues.
His time came to get his first taste of senior football at Ashton Gate and he has never looked back. He has started like a house on fire at Bristol City, managing to reach double figures in all competitions before September had been seen out.
After scoring game after game and drawing comparisons to Ian Wright, he earned himself plenty of plaudits and even broke into the England U21s squad for the first time in his career. To round it all off, his impressive September led to him being named the EFL Player of the Month, he now finds himself on 11 goals in 13 games.
Chelsea fans and hopefully members of the coaching staff have been forced to sit up and take notice of Abraham’s incredible season so far and it’s hard for fans not to get excited about what could happen in the future for the young forward.
It’s at this point that we must urge the Chelsea board to protect Abraham and handle his future very carefully.
His rise to prominence in England’s second tier can draw comparisons to that of Patrick Bamford, who was stealing all the headlines during his time at Middlesbrough, where he was voted the league’s Player of the Season during the campaign that saw them miss out on promotion after losing in the play-off final.
Bamford is now a shadow of the player that dominated England’s second tier, he had a torrid time on loan at Crystal Palace, where he failed to make the necessary step up and the same happened at Norwich during the second half of last season. He’s now getting his third bite at the Premier League cherry at Burnley but will struggle to dislodge their regular strike force of Andre Gray and Sam Vokes.
Bamford’s lack of progression all seemed to stem from one bad decision when it came to the next stage of his career after succeeding so well in the Championship.
This is something, that if the situation isn’t handled correctly, could arise again for Abraham in his next move if he has another move.
After seeing the level of progression he makes in what will be his first full season in senior football, Chelsea may be tempted to keep him in the first-team squad and make him their second or third choice striker for the new season. Whilst his game time may be lowered, he is still learning ‘the Chelsea way’ and being around top-class professionals every day.
If Chelsea did that with Bamford, who knows what he would’ve turned out like? It could also be those loan moves that tarnish any chance of making the cut at Chelsea, something so many youngsters fail to do.
The Blues must learn from the mistakes made with Bamford and use it to their advantage second time around with Abraham. Whilst their game styles differ, Bamford found himself in a very similar position to that, that Abraham does now.
He was one of many that were tipped to be the next big thing at Stamford Bridge but now finds himself quickly fading into the background and is in a race against time to resurface his career at the top level.
Having a youngster go out on loan and do well is no real surprise for Chelsea, it’s nothing new in the grand scheme of things. However, Chelsea have struggled to bridge the gap from going out on loan and getting into the first-team squad.
Using the loan market in the way that Chelsea do, you’d think that they’d work out a plan that will ease the growing pains that come with that transition in any players career.
Victor Moses seems to be doing just that this season, but the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Marko Marin have both struggled in the past after joining from loan spells.
Should Abraham continue in the fine form he’s currently in, he gives Chelsea a big decision to make next season and who knows what his next step in his career may be. But the club must learn from previous mistakes with youngsters in order to bring the best out of Abraham in the future.
