Abraham is loving life in the sun with Jose’s Roma

ENGLAND striker Tammy Abraham is loving life under Jose Mourinho after answering the Roma manager’s call to spurn Premier League interest for a fresh start in the Italian sunshine.

The 24-year-old this summer became the latest English talent to head abroad as a lack of opportunities under Thomas Tuchel saw him bring down the curtain down on his long association with Chelsea.

Abraham scored a hat-trick in what proved to be Frank Lampard’s final match in January and only played seven more times for the Blues, with the striker left out of the victorious Champions League final squad.

Former Swansea loan star Abraham subsequently swapped Stamford Bridge for the Stadio Olimpico in search of game time, joining Roma in a £34million deal and scoring four goals in his first 10 matches under Mourinho.

He said: “Why Italy? Good question. I had different options. So many clubs I was speaking to at the time. Italy came and I spoke to Jose. He had a goal.

“I could see where he wanted Roma to go and see where he wants to take them and I wanted to be part of the process. He really put his trust in me so he was a big impact on the reason why I chose Roma.”

■■An England men’s match will be refereed by a woman for the first time when Kateryna Monzul takes charge of tomorrow’s World Cup qualifier in Andorra.

Monzul will officiate the match at the Estadi Nacional, with UEFA’S official website confirming her fellow Ukrainians Maryna Striletska and Svitlana Grushko as assistant referees.

France’s Stephanie Frappart will be the VAR, with the fourth official and assistant VAR roles filled by men - Denys Shurman and Vikor Matyash respectively.

Monzul has refereed men’s matches before, becoming the first woman to take charge of a senior men’s international game for the Nations League clash between San Marino and Gibraltar in 2020.