John Terry and Jack Grealish helped convince Tammy Abraham to join Aston Villa
Calls from John Terry and Jack Grealish was what it took to convince Tammy Abraham to sign for Villa on a season-long loan from Chelsea.
The 20-year-old striker adds further strength to Steve Bruce’s front-line, following the captures of Yannick Bolasie and Anwar El-Ghazi earlier in the transfer window.
And Abraham revealed he had received plenty of encouragement from Terry and Grealish.
“He (Terry) was one of the first people to call me and said it was a great club and he enjoyed every minute here,” said the striker. “He said I would like it, like the manager, like the players and I believed him so I’m here.”
Abraham is beginning his third loan spell away from Chelsea, having scored 23 goals in the Championship for Bristol City in 2016/17 – where he briefly played with Villa striker Jonathan Kodjia – and then spelt a year in the Premier League with Swansea City last season.
He was Steve Bruce’s No.1 target this summer and the deal was completed at the 11th hour on Friday with a little help from new chief executive Christian Purslow, but the ground work had been laid by others, including Grealish.
“I’ve had players like Jack Grealish messaging me every day,” said Abraham. “It’s nice to have a person you know from before to tell you to come to a club.”
