Micah Richards admitted that he has been totally taken aback by Tammy Abraham following his departure from Chelsea.
Speaking on the BBC Monday Night Club, Richards confessed that he thought it would take much longer for Abraham to settle at Roma.
Tammy has taken Italy by storm
The young striker would be totally excused for needing a season to completely immerse himself in his new Italian surroundings.
Before this term, he had only played club football on English soil, like so many players of the same cloth.
But after falling out of favour under Thomas Tuchel, Abraham made the bold decision to move abroad and test himself against a different breed of opponent.
Serie A and European defences have certainly been made aware of the centre-forward’s presence across the past few months.
He has scored 23 times so far, breaking the previous record for a Roman debutant held by Gabriel Batistuta and Vincenzo Montella (21).
His historic achievement was engineered over the weekend, where he bagged a brace in the huge 3-0 derby triumph over Lazio.
The Stadio Olimpico sang Abraham’s name deep into the night, a sight few saw coming when he left Chelsea last summer.
“I always thought he would do well, I didn’t think he’d do this well so soon. It’s been absolutely brilliant. Every time you watch Roma, he’s class,” said Richards.
“He’s running in behind, his hold up play seems to have got better.
“He’s really working hard for the team and he fully deserves it.
“He did alright at Chelsea, I thought he would have been given more of an opportunity to be honest.
“He’s done better than I thought he would have done though. I thought this would be his second season, not his first.”
Chelsea’s loss
Abraham certainly was given a chance at Chelsea until Tuchel took over from Frank Lampard.
Almost immediately after the German arrived at Stamford Bridge, the future of the number nine became a hot topic of debate.
Minutes became an absolutely rarity, as the likes of Kai Havertz and Timo Werner were preferred up front.
Romelu Lukaku’s return to South West London signalled the end of Abraham’s tenure at Cobham.
However, it did not indicate the conclusion of his career, which has gone to different heights in Rome.
If you ever come back to visit, Tammy, please bring some pizza with you!
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