According to the Times, young Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham has decided to commit his international future to England. This comes after the striker held talks with the president of the Nigerian Football Federation in September.
Abraham was born in south London. However, he qualifies for the Super Eagles via his father, who was born in Warri. It seems the youngster has decided he will represent the country of his birth at international level, though.
It could prove to be a very important decision ahead of next year’s World Cup in Russia.
Flown under the radar slightly
There is many a time the English media go overboard about a promising young English player. They go over the top and the expectation on the youngster’s shoulders almost kills their career before they have even started.
However, with Abraham, there does not seem to have been a lot of media coverage or fanfare. He has almost slipped under the radar slightly, despite being a highly promising player.
The 20-year-old spent last season on-loan at Championship Bristol City and scored 23 goals. It was an impressive goal for a player of such little experience.
Abraham has scored goals throughout his career at youth level. The striker seems to have many of the attributes to become a very good striker in the future. Chelsea’s reluctance to let him go on a permanent transfer says a lot about how highly Abraham is rated at the south west London club.
Impressive on-loan at Swansea
This season Chelsea allowed the young striker to go out on loan again. It was a temporary move to a Premier League club in the shape of Swansea City. The presence of former Blues coach Paul Clement no doubt had a big influence on the decision.
Questions were asked about how Abraham would take to the step-up from the Championship and under-23 football at Chelsea. So far, the youngster has taken the step up in his stride.
The 20-year-old has not always started games for the Swans. However, the striker has made an impact in a team that creates very little scoring opportunities.
Last Saturday, he started for the Swans in a 2-1 defeat at Arsenal. Not only did he create the Swansea goal, he gave the Gunners defence a tough time with his pace and mobility.
Abraham is obviously keen to prove himself in the Premier League and he has done little wrong so far in south Wales. In fact, Abraham has now scored four times in his ten appearances for Clement’s team.
It would be fascinating to see how many goals he would get in a team that actually created a decent number of chances.
Not great striking options for England
It seems strange talking about England taking such an inexperienced striker to a World Cup. However, the likes of Michael Owen and Theo Walcott went to World Cups with far less first-team football under their belts than Abraham.
Tottenham star Harry Kane, Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford and Leicester’s Jamie Vardy seem certain to be in the squad. However, the other striking options available to England boss Gareth Southgate are not that great. There is definitely a fourth striking birth to spare.
The Three Lions boss has experience available in Bournemouth’s Jermain Defoe, but the diminutive striker has struggled for form and even game time this season on the south coast.
Then we have the perennially injured players like Danny Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge and Andy Carroll. All three players have their merits and qualities. When they are fit, they would be good striking options.
The problem is that they can never seem to stay fit for more than a few games or months. Even then, they take months to get back to full match fitness and sharpness.
In Abraham, England have a youngster who is playing well in a poor Premier League team. The youngster is currently 7/1 to be in England’s World Cup squad, which is not a terrible shout considering the other attacking options.
He looks to be a natural born goalscorer. If he can continue to impress at Swansea, then I do not see a reason why the youngster should not be a contender to be in England’s squad for Russia 2018.
Should Tammy Abraham be in England’s World Cup squad?
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