According to Dean Jones for Eurosport, Southampton and West Ham have ‘tentatively enquired’ about the availability of Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham.
Abraham will reportedly consider his future at the club this summer, which comes a week after the Athletic reported the striker is unwilling to commit to a new contract whilst Erling Haaland is pursued.
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Eurosport add that Abraham, who is contracted until the summer of 2023, wants to be paid closer to the £120,000-a-week that teammate and fellow academy graduate Callum Hudson-Odoi earns.
Abraham earns £80,000-a-week now, I’ve discussed this particular issue before on numerous occasions. Chelsea really messed up their wage structure in in bowing to Hudson-Odoi’s demands.
It’s added that there’s been no ‘concrete interest’ in Abraham over the last year and that Chelsea are unwilling to meet the 23-year-old’s demands, his current deal may be excessive for other clubs anyway.
Eurosport report that Southampton would look to the England international if Danny Ings left, though Abraham’s £80,000-a-week is already higher than the coastal outfit’s biggest earner.
West Ham would be able to pay more, but if he’s fixed on earning the same amount as Hudson-Odoi does, a move to the Hammers would leave him needing to be made the top earner as well.
It seems slightly premature to speculate on Abraham’s future just yet, it’s clearly tied to how Chelsea fare in their hunt for Haaland and may also be linked to Olivier Giroud’s future at the club.
With the addition of Timo Werner, Abraham had played a slightly lesser role for the Blues this season anyway but the 6ft3 striker has seen very little action since Thomas Tuchel became boss.
He’s contributed a respectable 30 goals and 12 assists for the first-team in 80 appearances to date, he’s certainly shown enough to prove he’s Premier League quality but perhaps not quite developed enough to help the Blues start battling for major honours again.