Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham has said that Blues legend Didier Drogba was his childhood hero and he is pleased to be following in the veteran’s footsteps to lead the line for the club. Abraham spent the past three seasons on loan with Bristol City, Swansea City and Aston Villa respectively but he has now got the chance to impress for the Blues under manager Frank Lampard.
The England international made a slow beginning to the current campaign with three goalless games on the trot but he has since repaid the manager’s faith with braces in successive games against Norwich City and Sheffield United. As a result, he is assured of a starting berth upfront for the short term at the least and he is hoping to emulate Drogba’s achievements.
He said: “I have so many stories from when I was younger watching him, growing up watching such a talented striker. I’ve always wanted to be like him, always hungry to score goals. Just looking at him he had that appearance about him. And I’ve always wanted to add that to my game. So to follow in his footsteps [as the club’s main striker] is always nice.”
Abraham started the season with direct competition from Olivier Giroud and Michy Batshuayi for the centre-forward role. However, Batshuayi has been out-of-favour under Lampard during the first month of the season and that combined with the average form of Giroud has meant that he has commanded the starting role upfront.
Nonetheless, he cannot rest on his laurels and needs to remain consistent over an extended period of time in order to cement the striker’s position. The Blues are currently under a transfer embargo until the summer of 2020 but reports have emerged that they could do business at the turn of the year with the board hoping to shorten the ban through their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.