MY FOCUS WAS ON JOINING ARSENAL, THEN JOSE CALLED-IT WAS JUST A NO-BRAINER

Tammy Abraham has loved life under Mourinho since moving to Roma in 2021, and while the striker is in no hurry to leave Serie A - or pesto - behind, he's not ruling out a Chelsea return...

- Alasdair Mackenzie

Tammy Abraham beams with health and happiness as the leonine forward strides gracefully into a small meeting room at Roma’s training ground. Life is good. This isn’t, admittedly, the usual effect that FourFourTwo has on people – the marksman became a father for the first time a few days before we meet. “I don’t think the feeling has kicked in yet,” he grins proudly. Baby Amari’s arrival brought even more joy into a life that has looked rosy ever since the 25-year-old decided to – as Jose Mourinho put it – swap the rain of London for the sunshine of Rome in the summer of 2021.

Adapting to a new team in a new league presented few complications as Abraham plundered 27 goals in all competitions in his first season with the Giallorossi, the most by a Roma debutant since Rodolfo Volk in 1930. Crucially, it’s not just time on the pitch he’s enjoying. The food, history and language of his new home are as much a part of the Englishman’s maiden overseas adventure. “Pesto is my favourite dish - it’s not Roman, but I could eat that every day,” he reveals. “I never had it before in England, so coming here was the first time.”

For a man who professes he “used to love history at school”, Abraham finds himself in a pretty good place. “Seeing the Colosseum in person was an amazing feeling,” he says.