Chelsea star Tammy Abraham ‘phoned by Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman’ in Roma hijack attempt
Tuchel pleased for Chalobah after first Chelsea goal
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Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman reportedly phoned Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham to try and hijack his move to Roma. The England international has completed his medical ahead of a move to Serie A with an announcement now imminent.
Abraham has returned to London after arriving in Italy last weekend to undergo checks with his new club.
He is now waiting for his visa to be resolved as a non-Eu citizen and once finalised he will begin his new venture in Italy.
The striker is set to follow in the footsteps of Fikayo Tomori by taking the plunge and moving to Serie A after being pushed towards the door at Chelsea.
But it’s now emerged that Barcelona made a late attempt to sign the 23-year-old.
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According to Sky Sports’ Kaveh Solhekol, Koeman even phoned Abraham in a bid to convince him to join the club.
The La Liga giants have now moved on to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and are said to be prepared to send Philippe Coutinho the other way to get a deal over the line.
“If they were able to get Coutinho off their wage bill, then maybe that way they could make room for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang,” he said on Sky Sports. “That is one way it could potentially happen.
“We do know that Barcelona are looking for a striker because earlier this evening our colleagues at Sky in Italy reported that Barcelona had been trying to sign Tammy Abraham from Chelsea.
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“According to Sky in Italy, Barcelona wanted to sign him and the Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman actually phoned Tammy Abraham himself.
“But he wasn’t able to convince Abraham to move to the Nou Camp and Abraham moved to Roma.
“We know they are looking for a striker and the information we have is they are now interested in Aubameyang.”
Abraham has not been short of calls this summer after being told can find a new club by Thomas Tuchel.
Jose Mourinho called the forward several times in a bid to convince him to move to Roma amid other interest from the Premier League.
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Arsenal, Aston Villa, West Ham and Southampton were also said to be amongst those interested in Abraham.
He is expected to join Roma on an initial loan that will become permanent for £34m at the end of the season.
The Gunners held talks with the player’s agent but could only make a move if they sold Alexandre Lacazette.
Chelsea will now just have two recognised strikers within their squad in the form of Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner.
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