Surprise striker sale pushes PL side in the direction of £40m-rated Chelsea ace

Transfer News: Southampton enter the race for Tammy Abraham

According to transfer news from Evening Standard, Southampton have entered the race for Tammy Abraham. The Saints are looking for a replacement for Danny Ings who joined Aston Villa in a ‘shock‘ move. Arsenal and West were understood to be after the Chelsea man as well.

If Tammy Abraham had a breakthrough 2019-20 season, the following year was quite the anti-climax for the academy graduate. Shortly after Frank Lampard was sacked and Thomas Tuchel was appointed, Tammy gradually lost his spot in the side. Injuries hardly helped but it was clear that Tuchel was not selecting him regularly even if he was fit.

Despite hardly featuring in the second half of the season, Abraham was still the joint top-scorer for the club at the end. Hence, it is no surprise that a host of Premier League sides took an interest in him. It was initially Arsenal and West Ham that were after him. But now, Southampton seemed to have joined in.

The Saints recently sold their star striker Danny Ings to Aston Villa and are looking to reinvest that money back into signing a striker. One problem is that they want a loan deal. Chelsea, on the other hand, are interested in a permanent sale. Both Arsenal and West Ham want a permanent deal as well but the £40m asking price is said to be deterring them.

More Chelsea News:

• Transfer News: Chelsea want to sell a defender before making Jules Kounde bid
• Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma not open to West Ham United move
• Transfer News: Borussia Dortmund place big price tag on Chelsea target Erling Haaland

From the looks of it, Tammy Abraham does not appear to be in Thomas Tuchel’s plans. That can be said despite the sale of Olivier Giroud to AC Milan. Now with Southampton also in the race, Chelsea can take their pick on who to sell to. Although, they might have to end up lowering that asking price if they want to expedite a sale.