Jose Mourinho scuppered Arsenal’s bid to sign Tammy Abraham from Chelsea with mystery phone call

Tammy Abraham has revealed he was keen to join Arsenal from Chelsea before a mystery phone call scuppered the proposed transfer.

It immediately looked like a shrewd piece of business, with Abraham hitting the ground running in his first season in Italy.

Abraham has found his second season abroad a much sterner test, managing only seven goals in 38 appearances.

But he retains the backing of Roma boss Mourinho, who played a key role in convincing the striker to move to Italy.

“It was time to move on from Chelsea, and I was talking to various clubs in England and Europe,” Abraham said.

“My focus was on a certain London club. I didn’t have to move anywhere, I was familiar with the area… it was Arsenal. My dad is a massive Arsenal fan, so he was very keen on it, and everything was going well.

“Then Jose called. I never usually answer numbers I don’t have saved in my contacts. But he said, ‘Hi Tammy, it’s Jose.’ I was like, ‘Wow, that’s a surprise!’ He asked how the family was.

“I was familiar with him because he knew me as a kid at Chelsea. He asked me, ‘Are you ready to leave the bad weather behind and come to sunny Rome?’ I laughed, we spoke a bit more, he told me about the project, his ambitions for the team.”

“He’d only been at the club a short time, but explained what he’d seen and what it was like,” Abraham added.

“I spoke to my agents and they said it was a no-brainer, the perfect time to start a new life, to go abroad and learn about a different culture. I was so ready for it, and I haven’t looked back since.”