Can Tammy Abraham make it at Chelsea?

Young Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham has been making his mark on-loan at Bristol City this season

A young Chelsea loanee has been making waves in the Championship. Striker Tammy Abraham has scored 11 goals in 14 appearances for Bristol City and is top scorer in the second tier.

The striker has only just turned 19 and is set to make his debut for the England under-21 against Kazakhstan on Thursday night, a game England are odds of 2/9 to win.

The youngsters rise to prominence in the English second tier has certainly raised his profile.

He will be touted as a potential star of the future and a future England international. However, Abraham’s story is a familiar one of a young player at a big club.

Chelsea have loaned out 37 players

Recently there was a very good interview that young Scottish winger Oliver Burke about his move to German club RB Leipzig. The 19-year-old talked about not wanting to move to the Premier League as he would probably just be loaned out.

He actually named Chelsea as one of the clubs who do that on a regular basis. The youngster showed a maturity beyond his years in that interview. The Blues currently have 37 players out on-loan, including Abraham which illustrates his point perfectly.

Most of those players are youngsters being sent out on-loan to gain experience and playing time. The question is how many are actually going to come back to Chelsea and be in the first team?

It seems unlikely that many will. As if the Blues have a position to fill then first team boss Antonio Conte will go out and strengthen with the clubs chequebook. There is little chance of youngsters becoming regular first team players.

Midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek is one of the few youngsters to have made an impact in the Chelsea first team in recent years. Brazilian full-back/winger Kenedy broke into the team last season, but is now at Watford, you guessed it on-loan.

Abraham is talented

Young Abraham is obviously enjoying himself in the second tier. He seems to have scored goals at whatever level he has played at through the youth ranks. Now he is showing that he can perform in competitive games, rather than games at a youth level.

No doubt Abraham seems like a natural born goalscorer. Chelsea have high hopes of the youngster one day being prolific for them in the top-flight.

Abraham has talent and seems like he has a good attitude. Current Bristol City boss Lee Johnson has praised his dedication and character. Loan spells in the Championship are fine for now. He will probably enjoy a few more loan spells in the next couple of seasons.

Will he then be regarded as good enough for the Chelsea first team? Or will he then just fade into obscurity because he came through the ranks at the wrong club. Abraham has already featured twice for the first team for Chelsea in the top-flight. Hopefully that is just the start for the young striker.

A problem for English football

A lot of the problems of the England national team have been pinned on the fact young English players do not get their chance to play on a regular basis at Premier League clubs. The Three Lions problems cannot all be blamed on that one factor.

However, it must have an effect on the development of young players not playing regularly. Most English youngsters are not going to become world-class stars anyway. However, with a bit more playing experience they may become good Premier League players at least, which would benefit the national side.

It is not Chelsea’s or any other Premier League club’s responsibility to supply England with players for the national team. In fact, Chelsea cannot be blamed for buying big money foreign players as we live in an age of fans demanding instant success.

Such an age means there is pressure on the first team boss, in this case Antonio Conte to deliver instant success. That means he does not have the time or chance to blood younger players, even if he wants to.

It will be interesting to see how Tammy Abraham’s career develops over the next few years. Hopefully the youngster can continue to develop his game and continue scoring goals.

If he can then no doubt he will make a very good Premier League striker of the future, whether that is with Chelsea only time will tell.

Can Tammy Abraham make it at Chelsea?