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Tammy Abraham details Mourinho’s call to convince him to join Roma

Andy Mattioli

Roma’s new number 9, Tammy Abraham, is having the time of his life.

With 4 goals and 2 assists so far to his name this season, the English forward was recently called up to Gareth Southgate squad for the World Cup qualifiers – his first call-up since November 2020.

Abraham was interviewed by The Guardian about his decision to move to Italy, his ambitions and the difficulty in finding playing time under Thomas Tuchel.

On Mourinho’s phone call that convinced him to come to the Italian capital:

“He said to me: ‘Do you want to enjoy some sun or do you prefer to stay in the rain?'”

“My mindset was that I wanted to be in the Premier League and I wanted to stay here – it was home.”

“From him I have learned as much as I have learned in my entire life. The easiest option was to stay at Chelsea. I realized that I had to go away and test myself.”

“I realised I needed to go out and prove myself. Of course, there were nerves and changing countries is always a brave thing to do. But I’d recommend it to young English players. I’d say not to be scared. You learn about yourself.”

“It’s tough but I’m getting used to it. I’ve gone to Rome and it’s time to show myself again.”

On his future ambitions:

“I want to be among the very best in the world when it comes to strikers. That’s my aim and I won’t stop until I’m there.”

On the switch from Frank Lampard to Thomas Tuchel that eventually led to his exit from Chelsea:

“It was hard. At first I didn’t understand. I scored goals, I had just come off a hat-trick. Obviously, when a new manager arrives, things change.”

“These things happen and they really make you understand the game. You can’t always be on top. Sometimes you need some lows and those lows have really lifted me up and pushed me to be hungrier.”

““I got to a point where I had to sit down and talk to myself,” Abraham says. “I was going out to train and I was doing it for me. I was going to train to better myself because it’s easy to throw a strop, to be angry around the place, to be a bad egg. For me, it was the opposite.”

“I learned about myself and I think that strengthened my mindset.”

Match Center

MatchDay 24
9 Feb 12:30
Venezia
VEN
Roma