Swansea City loanee Tammy Abraham has been urged by his assistant manager Claude Makélélé to follow in the footsteps of Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o.
Makélélé joined Paul Clement’s coaching team in January, and spent five years at Abraham’s parent club Chelsea, where he won two Premier League titles.
Now he works to develop Abraham, who is a Premier League regular for the first time after scoring 23 league goals for Bristol City last season.
Abraham needs to work hard
“He has great quality but he needs to work,” Makélélé told Standard Sport. “He’s young and he has time on his side. He wants to be one of the best strikers in the Premier League.
“He gets an example in the way Drogba and Eto’o play. But to do that he must work like they did.”
When asked if he can play for Chelsea, Makélélé said “I hope so. He needs to be successful with Swansea first and learn more and more to come back and push for Antonio Conte’s team.
“It’s going to be difficult.” Makélélé claimed. “He needs to adapt very well but we will push him. But he has to show the ambition to reach the top.”
Makélélé gave some insight into his coaching: “I tell him to do everything: run, fight. Some young players think about dribbling but they need to understand about their team-mates.
“He is fast. Go in space and you’ll make the difference for your team-mates.” The former Real Madrid midfielder said. “It all depends on him. He’s good. But he has to push himself and learn more. Then he can be one of the best strikers in the Premier League.”
Can Abraham become an elite striker?
Abraham certainly has all the tools to become a top Premier League striker.
He has the ability to score goals, which we saw through his 23 goals last season but also in scoring twice for Swansea this season despite the Welsh side’s inability to create chances.
Swansea are averaging just 6.6 shots per game, the lowest in the division and two shots per game fewer than their nearest rival Burnley.
Abraham has to work hard to create his own shot, and is often isolated up front but his hold-up game is improving and the 20-year-old looks very capable in that department now.
He works hard out of possession too, and presses hard alongside Jordan Ayew up front.
Swansea will be desperate to sign Abraham on a permanent basis at the end of the season, and with Chelsea’s not-so-impressive rate of bringing youngsters into the first team, Abraham might be tempted to move on too.