Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham has revealed the reason he turned down a move to the Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers in the January transfer window is that Villa Park feels like “home”.
In an interview with the Express and Star, the 21-year-old revealed that he had a “big decision” when Wolves came in for him, but it was his teammates and the Villa management which convinced him to remain, saying:
When Premier League (clubs) come for you it’s a big decision. I chose to stay here, I believed in the manager and players, and the fans and the great stadium.
I felt like here was home. The boys made me feel at home straight away. The new gaffer came in after me and players like John Terry who I grew up watching and playing with at Chelsea.
It feels like a big family with the fans, everyone supporting. It’s a great team, great stadium, great staff.
He also revealed that both manager Dean Smith and assistant John Terry had been in contact during the saga to convince him of the benefits of remaining at Villa.
Dean Smith and John Terry, to be fair, they called me every day! They said, ‘Listen, we believe you’ll score many goals here. We believe you could possibly take us up as well’.
When a manager believes in you that deeply it gives you that confidence as well to go out there every game, do your best for the team, the staff, coaches and everyone who believes in you.
Despite ending a streak of six goals in five goals with a fruitless return in the 0-0 draw against Reading, Abraham is currently the joint top goal scorer in the Championship alongside Billy Sharp on 19 goals and the two top scorers will go head to head this week as Villa welcome Sharp’s side Sheffield United to Villa Park on Friday.
