Last summer, Arsenal needed a new young striker just as much as we do this year, and when Thomas Tuchel surprisingly put the prolific young striker Tammy Abraham on the market it was no surprise that the Gunners were linked with him.
The tall then 23-year-old England international had notched up 30 goals in 79 appearances over two years for the Blues, but was never accepted as a regular starter in a squad full of superstars, so it was inevitable that he would be the subject of attention from lots of big clubs, especially at a transfer fee reported to be only £34 million.
Now, Abraham has been talking to the Athletic about his year in Italy, and he admits that he had an offer from Arsenal, but it seems that he was more attracted to Jose Mourinho’s project at Roma rather than Mikel Arteta’s. Abraham said: “Yeah, I had a few (offers). The Arsenal one got out and there were other clubs as well, but it’s never black and white, and just speaking to Mourinho and Roma and the sporting director, they had an ambition and an aim. They wanted the club to reach certain targets, they hadn’t won a trophy for a while and they hadn’t done as well in the league as they would have wanted.
“It was about seeing a vision and… how can I put it? It’s just like what Newcastle (United) are doing: building again. I could see where Mourinho wanted me to be and he believed in me. This was the best place for me. Thank god I’ve done it.”
There have been reports that Abraham is keen on a move back to London one day, but it is unlikely to be this summer as Chelsea’s buy back clause doesn’t come into effect until he has been in Rome for two years, but it looks like Arsenal missed the boat in last summers window anyway…