Tammy Abraham: Chelsea striker would be ‘perfect’ signing for West Ham, says Carlton Cole

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Tammy Abraham would be a “perfect” signing for West Ham this summer if the striker is allowed to leave Chelsea FC, former Hammer Carlton Cole has said.

Abraham has been sidelined with an ankle injury since February and has struggled for playing time at Stamford Bridge this season following a breakout campaign the previous year.

The England striker faced renewed competition for his place in the team after Chelsea signed attacking players Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech during the last summer transfer window.

But Cole says Abraham would benefit from being the “main man” at West Ham under David Moyes , who he says are in need of a striker this summer due to Michail Antonio’s injury record.

“If he [Abraham] was to come to West Ham, I’d welcome him with open arms. He would be the perfect person to lead that front line,” Cole told bookmakers.co.uk.

“We’ve got Michail Antonio there, who is a top player, but Tammy could come in and challenge for that place and that’s what West Ham need, there’s no one to challenge Antonio. Tammy would be perfect.

“I’ve always liked a technical big striker and he could be the ideal fit for West Ham because they can play a bit of football this team, and he’d fit straight in, especially if we can keep [Jesse] Lingard.

Abraham scored 19 goals in all competitions in Frank Lampard’s first season at Stamford Bridge, emerging as a first-team regular alongside Mason Mount, but found first-team opportunities harder to come by after Thomas Tuchel replaced the former Blues midfielder.

“With Tammy, I think he’s one of those players who needs an arm around him,” Cole added. “He needs the people around him to believe in him and he will perform if he gets that.

“He had a good run last season when they had to play the youth and he done well, but now he has to figure out what he wants to do with his career.

“He could go somewhere and be the focal point of an attack, a proper first choice striker with no squad rotation, like Didier Drogba used to be for Chelsea.

“He’s got to look at his career and his life at this point and think about where he wants to go with it. Does he want to stay with the big team or move on and make a name for himself and be a stalwart in the England set-up?”