Tammy Abraham has bid an emotional farewell to Chelsea after joining Roma in a £34 million deal and thanked the club that “means so much” to him.
Abraham signed a five-year contract in Italy over the weekend and will work under Jose Mourinho, who saluted the switch as a “real coup”.
Now, with the move official, Abraham has written a touching message reflecting back on his time at Stamford Bridge, alongside a montage of his best moments.
Taking to Instagram, he said: “Thank you. It’s time to say goodbye to a club that means so much to me and my family.
“From playing at the academy as a young kid from Peckham to winning the Champions League all those years later…
“I want to say thank you to my teammates, The Academy, all of the staff and of course, the Chelsea fans who have always supported me.”
Abraham, who is expected to be Mourinho’s first-choice No 9 after Edin Dzeko left Roma, was in Chelsea’s youth academy during the Special One’s second stint there.
He didn’t feature under him, however, but eventually made his breakthrough into the first-team under Frank Lampard with the club hit with a transfer ban.
During the 2019-20 campaign, Abraham scored 18 goals from 47 appearances in all competitions and led the line superbly.
But after Thomas Tuchel replaced Lampard, Abraham gradually found himself frozen out of the starting line-up and struggled for minutes.
Tuchel has since admitted to not placing enough trust in the forward, leading to his woes, but also brought in Romelu Lukaku for £98m to strengthen his strike force.
That saw Abraham further pushed down the pecking order, and he decided to head to Roma for his new adventure away from west London.
The deal with the Serie A club is understood to include a buy back clause of around £68 million, and Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia has said Abraham is welcome back.
“Tammy will always be welcomed back at Stamford Bridge as one of our own,” Granovskaia said.
“We have all enjoyed watching his progress through our academy and into the first-team squad, and are grateful for his contribution to our successes at senior and youth level.
“His many goals in a Chelsea shirt and, of course, his part in our Champions League triumph last season will never be forgotten. I’m sure all Chelsea supporters will join me in wishing Tammy a long and successful career.”