Arsenal legend Nigel Winterburn believes that his former side should look to sign England international Tammy Abraham in the summer, amid their continued search for a new striker.
Abraham moved to Serie A giants Roma at the beginning of the season from London rivals Chelsea in a deal worth £34m, and he's not disappointed under Jose Mourinho's tutelage. With 15 topflight goals in his debut campaign, the 24-year-old has taken the league by storm and is now one of the hottest properties in Italy.
With Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah set to leave the club when their respective contracts come to an end in the summer, football.london understands that Arsenal could target two frontmen this summer, with Jonathan David and Alexander Isak just two of the names on their ambitious shortlist.
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But Winterburn thinks they should turn their attention to Abraham, who has proven he can find the back of the net at the top level. Speaking to FreeSuperTips, he said: "Back in the summer when he was moving, there was a link with Arsenal, I don’t know how strong, but he fits into the bill of what Arsenal were trying to do.'
"A young player with huge potential, so my opinion doesn’t change that he would have been a great option for Arsenal."
That being said, the ex-Arsenal defender believes it'll be difficult to prize him away from Rome after the season he's had so far: "I would suggest that if he’s enjoying himself, then he wouldn’t want to move," he added. "He’s playing regular football, so I don’t feel like he would move back to England next season.
"I don’t see why he would move back, sometimes when you move and get that freedom, that game time you wanted and scoring goals it does wonders for you.
"I always remember Arsene Wenger saying that Nicolas Anelka felt he moved two years too early.
"I’m not expecting Tammy Abraham to move, someone’s taken a chance on him and he’s repaying that faith.
"But let’s wait and see, I imagine he’ll be looked at because he’s young and someone who will be on a upwards trajectory, so there’s always going to be interest."
Winterburn isn't the only Arsenal legend who thinks that Abraham will be a good fit at the Emirates, as Ian Wrigh has admitted that he would've loved to have seen 'The King of Rome' do well in an Arsenal shirt.
“Tammy Abraham. The king of Rome,” Wright said on his podcast Wrighty’s House. The way Tammy has gone over there, he’s lit it up.
“I couldn’t see Mourinho taking Tammy there and it working like it’s worked. This is where Mourinho baffles me, where he’s said ‘I’ve all people, I’m going to take Tammy. I’m going to take him to Roma and put him in this team’.
“I remember his first game. He was magnificent from the off. Everything that’s going on around him, it just feels like he’s that guy.
“We tried to get him, Arsenal, and when you look at how Arsenal play now, how Tammy is playing, you say to yourself, ‘Mikel [Arteta], you see the vision!’. When it was happening you think, ‘Yeah, I could see it happening,’ because he ripped us to shreds (when he played for Chelsea).”
