Tammy Abraham has revealed that John Terry played an influential role in his decision to join Aston Villa on loan from Chelsea this season.
The 21-year-old has been a fundamental figure for Dean Smith’s side, as he’s scored 26 goals and provided three assists in 41 appearances in all competitions.
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That’s been key in their run to the Championship playoffs final, as they’ll face Derby County at Wembley on Monday afternoon hoping to secure promotion back to the Premier League.
Speaking ahead of that game to Sky Sports, Abraham has revealed that Terry was key in convincing him to join Villa, with the former Chelsea defender serving as an assistant to Smith having stayed on after joining the club as a player and being part of Steve Bruce’s backroom staff.
“He was on the phone to me everyday. As soon as he heard the link between me and Aston Villa, he called me straight away and said that it’s such a good club and that I’d love it here. And he was right.”
That will be music to the ears of Villa fans, but ultimately it remains to be seen if Abraham can now fire them to one more crucial win to get them back into the top flight of English football.
Having finished the campaign in such strong form to get into the top six, they overcame West Bromwich Albion in the semi-finals on penalties, and having suffered the heartbreak of losing at Wembley to Fulham last year, they’ll be desperate to avoid a similar result this time round.
As for Chelsea though, they will have surely been monitoring Abraham’s progress this season, and given that they have a transfer ban in place for the summer, it could be a sensible idea to keep the youngster at Stamford Bridge next season to spearhead the attack and offer quality and depth alongside Olivier Giroud.
