We’ve toldTammy we’d like to sign him – Jenkins
Swansea City are among the clubs chasing Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham, chairman Huw Jenkins has confirmed.
The 19-year-old forward had an excellent season on loan with Bristol City in the Championship last term, netting 26 goals for the Robins.
Parent club Chelsea are now keen for the teenager - who is currently on international duty at the European Under-21 Championships - to gain Premier League experience and are ready to loan him out.
Newly-promoted Newcastle and Brighton have registered an interest and Jenkins has revealed Swansea have also thrown their hat into the ring as they look to strengthen Paul Clement’s squad following last season’s near miss with relegation.
Clement has links with Chelsea from his two spells at Stamford Bridge, where he worked his way up from working in the academy set-up to assistant manager.
The 45-year-old has made no secret of his desire to use his contacts at his former clubs to help secure new faces at the Liberty, but Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez’s own Blues links will also come into the equation.
Swansea hope a resolution over Abraham will come soon, although any decision will wait until his international commitment are concluded, and are waiting to discover where the Chelsea starlet wants to play his football next season.
“We have made enquiries and the player and the club know we have interest. We are waiting to see what he wants and that has been delayed because he is with England Under21s at the moment,” said Jenkins.
“We expect any decision will be made once that tournament is over and we will see what he wants to do.
“It’s not just about us. There is a Newcastle link, Rafa Benitez spent time at Chelsea, which has been fed back to us, and he has also been linked with newly promoted Brighton.
“We have made our interest known and we now wait to see the outcome but we understand it is a big decision for the player to make.”
Meanwhile, Swansea are close to offloading striker Bafetimbi Gomis to Galatasaray.
The 31-year-old spent last season on loan with Marseille and made a big impression, scoring 21 goals in 33 appearances for the Ligue 1 side as well as captaining the team on occasions. The French side had indicated a desire to seal a permanent deal for Gomis, but Turkish club Galatasaray soon entered the fray and made clear they were ready to firm up their interest.
Swans boss Paul Clement had said he was prepared to give Gomis a chance to prove himself in pre-season in South Wales, but Swansea are keen to get the France international’s £70,000-a-week wages off the books and chairman Huw Jenkins has revealed a deal could be sorted by the end of the week.
However, it is thought the final fee to end Gomis’ time as a Swansea player will be as low, as in the £2million-£3million bracket, with the forward having just a year remaining on his contract at the Liberty.
“Talks are ongoing with Galatasaray and we may have more news on that this week. There were a few clubs involved, but it now looks like Galatasaray are the ones who are focused on getting him, who we are talking to and we are trying to get a deal to satisfy all parties,” said Jenkins.
“We have been in talks and we are getting closer to a deal, we have a fee in mind and we hope there may be more in the coming days.”
Gomis scored 17 goals in 61 appearances for the Swans having joined in the summer of 2014 on a free transfer.