Arsenal interest in Tammy Abraham transfer reliant on key factor

Tammy Abraham an Excellent Signing for Arsenal Under the Right Conditions

Is it actually going to happen? Unlikely.

In terms of convincing Abraham to join Arsenal, despite the lack of European football (he wasn’t playing any anyway) him being a boyhood supporter would make that an easy sell. However, the Lacazette situation is proving troublesome.

It speaks volumes of Abraham’s ability that the entire Chelsea fanbase, including top club reporters and journalists, remain baffled by his freezing out.

What he’d bring the Mikel Arteta’s side is something different. That variation at centre-forward the squad doesn’t currently have. He’s essentially a target man who does a bit of the rest.

Tall, physically strong and good with his back to goal, he finds shooting opportunities in the box easy to come by. His npxG/Sh of 0.21 is 96th percentile worthy, which demonstrates that he takes a high volume of shots in high quality areas.

Does he always look especially elegant? Not really, but it’s effective. Holding the ball up very well, his % of aerials won is an excellent 55.1% (92nd percentile), adding a different dimension to what Arsenal have.

Is £40m too steep? Perhaps, but you won’t find a player of proven Premier League quality who is homegrown and 23 years old for any cheaper. There may be bargaining space, too. If everything aligned well for this deal – getting the price lowered, moving on Lacazette, Balogun’s loan move etc – then Abraham would be welcome at the Emirates. He’s terribly underrated at Chelsea.

However. The dreaded however.

No need to swallow pride, Chelsea are making a mistake with Abraham. Arsenal scooping up more of their ‘rejects’ wouldn’t be the outlook on this particular scenario. Nonetheless, Abraham doesn’t boast the technical craft Arteta wants to aid with build-up play.

Ignoring that though, there are about 20 other tasks on the to-do list that come before forking out £40m on Abraham. Easily.

Arsenal need a centre-back, possibly two goalkeepers, a right-back, two central midfielders and a playmaker. That list is long enough and it completely ignores the outstanding amount of departures that need seeing to. The only transfer less of a priority is finding a backup for Willian. Sort out everything else first then come back if he’s still not been sold.

Underrated for definite, but so far down the list it doesn’t really matter.