Abraham’s focus is on England’s mission
Ryan Bertrand of England and Djibril Sidibe of France battle for the ball during the international friendly at Stade de France, Paris last night CHELSEA striker Tammy Abraham has put talks over his future on hold until after Euro 2017.
The 19-year-old is currently in Poland with England Under-21s and preparing for Friday’s opening Group A game against Sweden.
Newcastle and Brighton are reportedly keen to take him on loan after he scored 26 goals for Bristol City in a successful loan spell in the Sky Bet Championship last season.
However, Abraham is willing to wait until after the European Championship to decide his next move.
“As far as I am aware, yeah,” he said, when asked if his future was still open.
“I haven’t spoken with Chelsea yet. I am just focusing on this tournament so the discussions will happen after.
“I’m not too sure about the future. Hopefully it will be in the Premier League.
“After this season I need to take myself to the next level.
“That’s the type of person I am, I always want to do better. I always want to do more.
“So going into the new season my aim will be to top this one.”
Abraham watched parent club Chelsea win the Premier League last season, but insisted he needed to concentrate on his own development before aiming to establish himself at Stamford Bridge.
He added: “For me it was more about focusing on myself and trying to build up myself.
“The players at Chelsea are established in the Premier League and this was my first season.
“I was trying to build myself up and make a name for myself.”
England trained in Kielce for the first time since arriving on Monday with 300 local school children watching the open session yesterday morning.
The England squad then travelled to the Homo Homini Memorial, which is an abstract representation of two towers pierced by a sharp object to honour the victims of 9/11.
Text on one tower commemorates terrorist attacks in Beslan, Moscow, Madrid, Bali, London, Jerusalem, Istanbul, Baghdad, Sri Lanka, and Sharm El Sheikh.
The players and team manager Aidy Boothroyd laid candles as the mayor or Kielce, Wojciech Lubawski, laid a wreath during a brief ceremony. EVERTON have agreed a fee with Sunderland for goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
The Black Cats have accepted an offer from the Merseyside club which could rise to £30m with various add-ons included in the package.
Pickford was one of the few bright spots as Sunderland were relegated last term and he is currently in Poland with England Under 21s. ■■Manchester United have made a “very important offer” for Alvaro Morata, the Real Madrid striker’s agent has said.
United have been heavily linked with the 24-year-old Spain international as they look to add attacking reinforcements to cover the loss of last season’s top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Morata’s agent, Juanma Lopez, revealed that freespending AC Milan have also shown an interest in the former Juventus hitman but says Madrid have rejected an “unsatisfactory” offer from the Italian giants. ■■Aleksandar Mitrovic could be facing up to an uncertain future this summer as Newcastle prepare to return to the Premier League.
Mitrovic helped the Magpies back into the top flight after just one season in the Sky Bet Championship.
But the Serbia striker continues to be linked with other clubs - both in England and abroad.
“I’m very happy to help Newcastle back to the Premier League because that’s where the club deserves to be,” Mitrovic said.
“I heard something about other clubs but for now I just want to rest. ■■Antoine Griezmann apologised for any misunderstanding his comments about his future may have caused in recent months after extending his Atletico Madrid contract until 2022.
Griezmann has signed a one-year contract extension with Atletico to bring a definitive end to one of the year’s longest-running transfer sagas.
The France international had looked on course to join Manchester United for a fee reportedly in the region of 100 million euros (£87m).