Chelsea loanee Tammy Abraham has been told to learn from the examples set by his predecessors Samuel Eto’o and Didier Drogba if he is to shine at Stamford Bridge.
Abraham is spending the season on loan at Swansea City, under the tutelage of former Chelsea assistant Paul Clement and Claude Makelele, who won two league titles with the Blues between 2003 and 2008.
England Under-21 striker Abraham enjoyed a prolific season on loan at Bristol City last term and has made a bright start to life in south Wales, scoring three goals in his first nine games.
Abraham is highly thought of at Stamford Bridge, where he signed a new five-year deal before going out on loan, but he still faces the same uphill battle that a generation of Chelsea youngsters have faced in making the step up to the first team.
Makelele says he will do all he can to help smooth Abraham’s path to the top but warned the 20-year-old he will have to do it the hard way.
“He has great quality but he needs to work,” Makelele told Standard Sport at the ASPIRE4SPORT Congress & Exhibition. “He’s young and he has time on his side. He wants to be one of the best strikers in the Premier League. He gets an example in the way Drogba and Eto’o play. But to do that he must work like they did.
“Can he play for Chelsea? I hope so. He needs to be successful with Swansea first and learn more and more to come back and push for Antonio Conte’s team. It’s going to be difficult. He needs to adapt very well but we will push him. But he has to show the ambition to reach the top.
“I tell him to do everything: run, fight. Some young players think about dribbling but they need to understand about their team-mates. He is fast. Go in space and you’ll make the difference for your team-mates. It all depends on him. He’s good. But he has to push himself and learn more. Then he can be one of the best strikers in the Premier League.”
