Aston Villa have launched a spirited move to keep Tammy Abraham until the summer of 2019, in spite of pressure from his parent club, Chelsea to have him back in January.
Following 11 goals from Abraham this season, on loan at Villa, including four in a recent 5-5 draw with Nottingham Forest, Chelsea have made moves to have the Nigerian-born striker back early at Stamford Bridge.
However, footballllive.ng gathered that The Blues’ former captain, John Terry, who is now an assistant coach at Villa, is leading efforts to have the in-form England star stay till the summer.
The 21-year-old scored his 11th Championship goal of the season in Saturday’s 3-0 victory at Middlesbrough having netted four times in last week’s crazy 5-5 draw with Nottingham Forest.
Abraham is on loan at Villa Park for the entire season but Chelsea have the option to recall him in January.
However, Villa are confident their season-long arrangement stands and Terry has been in talks with Stamford Bridge officials to ensure that.
Villa head coach, Dean Smith believes that Abraham is enjoying his time at the club and the opportunity to work with Terry on the training field.
Speaking after that four-goal spree against Forest, Smith said: “He’s got a love for Villa at the moment.”
That is reflected by a return of seven goals in his last four league outings as Villa mount for the Championship play-offs after an inconsistent start to the season.
Abraham also believes the extra attention he has been paying to his heading in collaboration with Terry is paying off.
He said: “I’ve been working with John Terry on heading and it paid off. Hopefully I can keep getting in the right areas to keep scoring.
“It’s a bit weird because I still see JT as a player. He is like a big brother to me. On Tuesday, after training, we spent an hour just working on my heading.
“It paid off so when I scored I dedicated the celebration to him. He has always supported me ever since a young age.
“The first time I went with the first team at Chelsea he put his arm around me and made me feel welcome and more comfortable. Coming here it is the same and he is still like a big brother.”
