Roma paid Chelsea around £34m to sign Tammy Abraham and he went on to deliver in his first season by netting 27 times in 53 games in all competitions under Jose Mourinho
Roma paid Chelsea around £34m to sign Tammy Abraham and he went on to deliver in his first season by netting 27 times in 53 games in all competitions under Jose Mourinho Roma paid Chelsea around £34m to sign Tammy Abraham and he went on to deliver in his first season by netting 27 times in 53 games in all competitions under Jose Mourinho
Tammy Abraham has revealed a hilarious phone call from Jose Mourinho convinced him to leave Chelsea for Roma – after the “special one” urged him to leave “rainy England” for “sunny Rome”.
Abraham was frozen out at Chelsea by then-manager Thomas Tuchel in 2021 before being offered a lifeline by Roma manager Mourinho – who briefly worked with him at Stamford Bridge in the 2015-16 season.
Roma paid around £34m to sign Abraham and he went on to deliver in his first season by netting 27 times in 53 games in all competitions under Mourinho.
Abraham spoke of how Mourinho swayed him to jet off to the Italian capital with a simple phone call that interrupted his gaming session on his PlayStation.
Speaking to BBC Sport, he said: “I was on the PlayStation with my friends. I received a call, I picked up and I said hello. ‘And he said, ‘hello Tammy it’s Jose. Do you want to stay in rainy England or come to sunny Rome?’. And I remember just running upstairs and telling my parents and we thought Rome was the place to go.”
Abraham couldn’t quite keep up his form in his second season as he only scored nine times in total and was then sidelined for much of the 2023-24 season through injury. Mourinho was sacked that same year and Abraham then lost his place in the team before joining AC Milan on loan this term.
However, he still has fond memories of his time working under the former Chelsea and Manchester United boss, admitting he was one of the best managers he had ever worked under.
“Jose was one of the best coaches I have had,” he added. “He was a manager, he always believed in what he believed in and as a player you feel the energy and you kind of buy into that. I don’t regret one thing, I’ve loved it and it’s been amazing.”
Abraham, who came through Chelsea’s youth system at under-eight level, is attempting to rediscover his early form at Roma with Milan but has only scored twice in 11 games.
But that hasn’t stopped Abraham enjoying his time in the city. He said: “Milan has been amazing. My whole life I grew up in London, so it was a privilege to move to Rome, and now Milan.
“I want to look back on my career and be like I really lived in places like Rome and Milan and be able to say that I’ve embraced the culture.”
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