I WAS ALWAYS GOING TO CHOOSE ENGLAND
Abraham: Nigeria is a big nation but I was born and grew up here...
‘Harry Kane is my idol... now I have come here to steal all his ideas’
TAMMY Abraham insists his international dream has always been to represent England.
The Chelsea striker is in line for his competitive England debut in the Euro 2020 qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, having been given a recall by England manager Gareth Southgate last week.
Nigeria have tried desperately to persuade Abraham to play for them instead — and until yesterday the striker had refused to publicly state which country he wanted to play for.
But following his Southgate call-up, Abraham confessed his first choice has always been to represent England.
Abraham, who has scored nine times this season, has two caps from England friendlies, but will be fully committed for the rest of his career if he features against the Czech Republic or Bulgaria, because they are competitive fixtures.
Abraham said: ‘For me, it’s nice to be wanted by two nations. Clearly it means you’re doing something well. At the back of my head, I’ve always wanted to play for England. I was born and grew up in England.
‘My dream was always to play for England. It doesn’t affect the fact Nigeria still wanted me, and it’s a big nation. I love both nations. My head was just screwed on with England.
‘I’m here and I’m ready to stay. I want to do the best I can. That means playing well for club and country.
‘Hopefully I can get many years’ experience under my belt for England.’
Despite his brilliant start to the season, Abraham will almost certainly start both qualifiers on the bench, given captain Harry Kane is England’s undisputed No 1 striker.
But the 22-year-old hopes Kane’s magic will rub off on him.
The striker said: ‘I can learn from Harry. I’ve come here to steal his ideas. Harry Kane is one of the best strikers in the world.
‘I’ve come to learn the other parts of his game, and add it to my game as well.
‘You see his finishing, left foot, right foot — I just want to take that into my game, so when I go back I can work on myself and practise. Harry’s someone I’ve grown up watching.
‘For me, he’s the best striker in the world. I was always excited to come here, to watch him train, to train with him, and hopefully maybe play with him as well. He’s always going to be my idol.
‘I’m here to stay, to do well, the best I can. I’m here because right now I’m doing so well, top scorer in the league. Hopefully I’ll get my chance and take it.’
Abraham’s route to becoming Chelsea’s main man has been one of twists and turns.
A season- long loan spell at Championship side Bristol City in 2016 went swimmingly — he scored 26 goals.
The following season his loan spell at Swansea — who were in the Premier League at the time — started promisingly as he scored four goals in his opening nine top-flight games.
But he didn’t score another Premier League goal until April as the Swans were relegated, raising doubts over his top-level capabilities. Abraham relocated his goalscoring form last season, notching 26 as Aston Villa secured promotion to the Premier League.
‘For me, those loan spells were good,’ said Abraham. ‘To go out and understand (my game). I’ve had loans where I’ve gone out and seen the real world, especially with Swansea.
‘ My first experience in the Premier League was quite tough. I learned about the other side of football.
‘Not just winning games but losing them and not dominating possession. Just little things like that have turned me into a man. And I’ve taken it back to Chelsea.
‘ It’s still early doors. But I am happy with the way I’ve started.
‘I’ve had other experiences when I’ve gone out on loan again — back into the Championship, which wasn’t ideal for me at the time but brought a lot of positives.
‘Going back into the war zone, as they call it, I got to toughen up. Although I didn’t score as many goals at Swansea as I would have liked, I got to enjoy football again and started scoring at Villa and then had a great end to the season.
‘I’ve always believed in myself, but it’s still early. I’ve got to keep trying to help the team.’