Tammy Abraham completes £34m transfer from Chelsea to Roma | conversion window

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Tammy Abraham has completed his move to Roma for £34m after finding himself surplus to requirements at Chelsea.

Roma are in the market for a new striker after selling Eden Dzeko to Inter, who signed the Bosnian after allowing Romelu Lukaku to join Chelsea for £97.5m, winning the race for Abraham after dodging Arsenal’s competition.

The 23-year-old was allowed to leave his boyhood club after playing just 17 minutes in the final three months of last season under Thomas Tuchel. Abraham found himself on the sidelines after Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard as Chelsea manager, although the forward remains the club’s top scorer with 12 goals.

The striker had two years left on his deal and his departure was inevitable after Lukaku’s return to Stamford Bridge. Many clubs were watching Abraham and Arsenal wanted to sign him on loan with a commitment to make the deal permanent next summer, but the north London club found it difficult to crack Chelsea during negotiations.

Abraham, who has also been targeted by West Ham, was interested in joining Arsenal. However, Chelsea were not prepared to facilitate the signing of an academy graduate, leaving the path open to Jose Mourinho’s Roma side. The Serie A club is rebuilding after signing Mourinho earlier this summer and agreeing to give Abraham a five-year contract worth £80,000 a week.

Abraham leaves Chelsea with a good reputation. He was popular with fans after playing a key role in the team’s fourth-place finish two seasons ago, scoring 18 goals, and the deal with Roma includes a £68m buy-back clause that Chelsea can activate from June 2023.

Chelsea are also in talks with Lyon about selling Italian left back Emerson Palmieri and are close to sending Michy Batshuayi to Besiktas on loan. Tuchel wants to downsize his squad and wants Timoe Bakayoko, Ross Barkley, Davide Zappacosta and Danny Drinkwater to leave before the transfer window closes.

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