Chelsea striker, Tammy Abraham has admitted he still has a love for his father’s country, Nigeria, as he revealed that he has been able to make his teammates at Stamford Bridge interested in listening to Afro Beat music before and after matches or training sessions, megasportsarena.com reports.
Although he appears to have opted for an international future with England, rather than Nigeria, as his name has been included in The Three Lions’ squad to play against Czech Republic and Bulgaria in Euro Championship qualifiers, which would rule him out of any chance of starring for the Super Eagles, the lanky lad says he still loves the West African country’s music.
Afrio Beat was indeed made globally popular by a Nigerian music legend, late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, whose brand of entertainment Abraham has now revealed forms part of a vibrant, strong followership in Chelsea, with his teammates showing an appreciation for the genre.
Aside listening to Afro Beat as a team together, Abraham further disclosed that his colleagues generally show appreciation of African culture, which he says forms part of the bond among them all in the Chelsea dressing room, not just him and his Nigerian-born colleagues in The Blues’ main team, Fikayo Tomori and Charles Barkley.
This comes amidst reports that Chelsea are planning contract talks with Abraham and Tomori, who were both invited by England coach, Gareth Southgate this Thursday, as both products of The Blues’ youth sector have excelled for their debut season with the first team this season.
Starring regular under Chelsea’s former player turned rookie coach, Frank Lampard, Abraham has shown what it takes to lead the line, while Tomori is proving a reliable option in defence in the English Premier League, for which Sky Sports reports that The Blues will offer both players five-year contracts and hope to have them signed in the coming days.
Out of the two, Tomori’s rise is the most surprising, as he was on loan at Derby County in the lower division last season tipped for a transfer away from the club this summer, while Abraham top scored in the same English Championship with Aston Villa, with his form continuing on an upward swing this season in both the domestic scene and Europe.
Only this past Tuesday, Abraham grabbed his first ever goal in the UEFA Champions League in a 2-1 win away to Lille Metropole of France, thereby taking his season tally to eight goals in 10 matches this season, and he has now revealed another angle to his marvekllous form, revealing that a good source of motivation for him at Chelsea is his colleagues’ love for African heritage.
Abraham said: “I’ve grown up in an area with a lot of African culture and African background. Even in the changing room nowadays, we play Afrobeats and all sorts. So you’re fully aware that Nigeria is a massive country. It’s global.”
Incidentally, former Manchester United and England ex-national team defender, Rio Ferdinand has disclosed that he sees plenty of Chelsea and Ivory Coast legend, Didier Drogba’s style of play in Abraham.
Speaking against the background of Abraham’s performance in the win over Lille, Ferdinand, who marked Drogba during matches between Chelsea and United, said he sees shades of the Ivorian’s approach in The Blues’ new kid on the block.
Ferdinand submitted: “I saw elements in Tammy’s game that I haven’t seen as much as I would have liked to before. His hold-up play, coming to the ball, bringing others into play. There were some balls that came into him that were Didier Drogba-esque.
“I think he’s developing nicely, he’s scoring goals, he’s scoring different types of goals and I think he’s a threat. When this ball comes to him, it’s a magnificent touch because it’s not the perfect ball. He adjusts his feet beautifully and the finish, the calmness to do it like that.”
In a related development, The Blues’ French striker, Olivier Giroud admits he has been kept out of action with the London club due to Abraham’s top form this season, adding: “Tammy walks on water and scores a lot of goals. It is difficult to remove an attacker when he is successful.
“But it’s good for the team, it makes us want to continue working and shake the competition. I hope things will evolve anyway; I do not lose hope, far from it. I am aware of the situation, it is not easy. But we hang on…”
Abraham, whose call-up came almost two years after his first, is one goal behind Sergio Aguero in the EPL’s top goals scorers’ chart this season and former Chelsea hitman, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink says the lad must now look to replicate his domestic form on the international stage.
“As a young boy when you dream of being a footballer you want to play at the highest level and the highest level is England. He has been called up. He is going to get the chance and he has to compare himself with the best [striker] and that is Kane at the moment.
“He has to try to get Kane’s position. It is not easy but that is going to be the next step. He has been invited for the England national squad. Now can you make that place yours? The only way is to do well for Chelsea, keep on scoring and when you go with England show that you can do it on that level as well,” Hasselbaink told Sky Sports News.
Lampard is also celebrating the 22-year-old Abraham who last played for England two years ago when he made his debut against Germany, before getting off the bench against Brazil four days later, but both matches were mere friendlies, so he was not cap-tied.
Having scored his first Champions League goal to take his tally to eight for the season, Lampard believes Abraham has the qualities to succeed on the international stage, but warned that the lad must not be in a hurry to succeed with The Three Lions.
“I’m very happy and I think it’s well deserved. He’s scoring goals regularly for us, everyone knows his form is really good and it’s a natural progression for him. I don’t want to put too much on his shoulders because step by step he’s shown that he can score goals – twice in the Championship and now he’s showing that he can score goals in the Premier League,” Lampard concluded.
