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The great Barry White once sang, ‘You see the trouble with me’ and ‘What am I gonna do with you?’ That ‘me’ and ‘you’ can easily be replaced with Tammy Abraham these days. There are big clouds surrounding Tammy Abraham’s future at Roma ever since the striker suffered his serious ACL injury at the end of last season. Sadly, those clouds haven’t gone away. In fact, the weather has got even cloudier and gray in the last couple of months. A ray of sun? Nowhere to be seen.
Tammy Abraham is your perfect Roman personification. During his three years at the club, his career has seen ups and downs and everything in between.
It all started with his signature in 2021 and a rather high transfer fee for a young, English striker unproven in a league abroad. His first real experience outside the UK. But the numbers spoke for themselves: 27 goals in his first season and a Conference League trophy on top of that. The transfer was a stroke of genius by the management, and there were rumors that Chelsea wanted to buy him back for almost double the amount Roma originally paid.
Of course, expectations were high for his second season, especially when paired with a talent like Paulo Dybala up front. Abraham was the main striker, and while he played 50+ official games in all competitions in 2022-2023, the numbers were less stellar this time around—disappointing even: 9 goals. Roma did reach the final of a European Cup for the second consecutive time but lost it, and in Serie A, there was another depressing sixth-place finish.
Was Tammy a one-hit wonder? Was his first season just one big lie, or was 2022-2023 only a fluke? A small bump along the road to greatness? In your typical Roma Happened fashion, Abraham suffered an ACL injury on the final matchday vs Spezia, basically destroying his third season in Rome and the hopes and dreams of many Giallorossi fans.
Thankfully, it didn’t break Tammy’s spirit, and he worked hard to make his comeback somewhere in 2024. Roma suddenly had to look out for a replacement, and in a mad mercato twist, Lukaku was Friedkin’s chosen one and gift for the Special One. There were a lot worse options than Romelu, that’s for sure.
With Lukaku now the number one striker and Sardar Azmoun playing okay as his backup, everyone forgot a bit about Abraham, blinded by the goals and excellent hold-up play of Lukaku. Nevertheless, while the Belgian and Azmoun shared the honors at the striker position in both Mourinho and De Rossi’s teams, Abraham remained in the background. Rehabilitation, working, training, fitness, you name it. After ten months, his comeback is finally near. Finally.
