Tammy Abraham - a view from Chelsea

It’s been a summer of huge excitement at Ashton Gate with the completion of the West Stand setting the perfect backdrop to the most extravagant outlay of our existence. Millions of pounds we know about, plus plenty we probably don’t in loan fees, signing-on fees and wages have led to a glut of exciting signings of mainly young players, a nice mixture of experienced mid 20-somethings and younger, high potential players.

Having already snapped up players from Juventus and Bayern Munich, Lee Johnson and Mark Ashton have turned their attention closer to home with the latest loan signing and could have just landed the most exciting signing of them all, from Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea.

Whilst there may be a touch of self-congratulation around it, both Johnson and Ashton have talked about the lengths they’ve gone to so as to snap up the teenage striker who was also being linked with a move to Spanish La Liga side Real Betis. As is often the case with these sorts of things, it was as much the club and their new coach, Antonio Conte, who needed persuading of our plans, approach and style of football as the player himself.

On first impressions, we have a young player with all the attributes needed to be an old-fashioned number nine.  At six foot five inches tall, he has the height to be a real threat in the air, but also looks to have strength and pace not always seen in those so tall. And then there’s his goal record…

Whilst he was seen briefly in making a superb, immediate impact as substitute on Saturday, many won’t have seen a huge amount of him so I asked the Chelsea blog @PrideOLondon for their views on their youth team star, who has scored an impressive 74 goals in just 98 games during his youth career.

Their youth team expert Siva Sankar penned these words for the Exiled Robin:

"Tammy Abraham has been at Chelsea since he was nine years old. He is one of the top prospects to have come through Chelsea academy and at the age of 18 is ready to take the next step.

Tammy is a naturally gifted with strength and pace that belie his tall, lanky frame. He has had little professional experience to date but one thing that is of little doubt is that physically he's ready to cope with the Championship. His height and strength will give him great advantage when competing for goal kicks or for crosses in the box. But the truth is that Tammy has a lot more in his locker. Chelsea realised long ago that physically he was better than his peers and sought to aid him in developing his footwork and technique.

To that effect, he has been played on the wing quite a lot as well. He can score all sorts of goals and his goal scoring record speaks for itself.

Bristol City sure seem enamoured by him as their pursuit of him has been a long one. This is a loan that will make all parties involved happy.

He has been assigned the number nine and that is very apt because Tammy is the quintessential player of that position. His physical attributes aligned with good technique and a real desire to score make him a potent, well rounded, all action centre forward.

He is also a willing worker who will give his all on the pitch. All these are traits that will endear him to the fans and hopefully he can help himself and the club do well this season. The learning curve will be steep for him and hopefully he will be afforded patience to fully settle into his new environs and the rigors and pressures of professional football.”

My thanks to Siva and Pride of London for their help with this.

If City fans weren’t excited enough by the hype of the signing, then the start Abraham made in his brief appearance on Saturday will have blown it into orbit. But we should remember this is a very young player with a lot to learn, and he will have quiet days, bad games. But with some support in a side looking to attack and work around him as Lee Tomlin in particular will look to do, he can develop significantly in his time with us and play a big part in our season.

And if all that’s not enough, check out all his goals from last season! https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjUyaD65LLOAhVnC8AKHaqNBHoQtwIIRzAH&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Df1Xp-2Atf-E&usg=AFQjCNFTdjJU2xLUAKcE3bl352hVwOL9fg&sig2=N6TEHF8_OYtaUaS4wJwplg

COYR!