GdS: ‘Devil in me’ – how Abraham fell ‘in love’ with Milan after deadline day move

Photo by Claudio Villa/AC Milan via Getty Images

Tammy Abraham seems to have struck up a very good feeling with AC Milan since arriving on deadline day, and he only sees his future with the Rossoneri as per a report.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport recall, the signing of Abraham was announced at 21:50 CEST which was two hours after the mercato officially closed. In a short space of time the striker has already shown what he can bring to the team and he seems to be a fan favourite.

The fact that he started the derby against Inter on Sunday was a show of faith from head coach Paulo Fonseca too. Alvaro Morata operated more as an attacking midfielder, leaving the Englishman to be the man in charge of the penalty area.

Sacrifice is also what Abraham offered in exchange for his team-mates and the coach: in the derby he kept the opposing defenders busy and supported his colleagues because his movement into space causes problems, as do his runs off the shoulder, opening up more pockets for others to exploit.

Abraham will be in the starting line-up against Lecce too and it is expected that Morata will get the nod as well. To see the two summer signings together for a second game in a row is something that didn’t seem possible a couple of weeks ago and if Alvaro was the guarantee, Tammy was the surprise.

Some more background on his summer arrival: Abraham arrived in Milan for medical tests and to sign his contract on the last day of the window and he left for Rome a few hours later to be available for Lazio-Milan. The result? He came on and assisted Rafael Leao for the 2-2 goal after less than two minutes.

With Morata still recovering from a muscle injury and only fit enough for the bench, the former Chelsea man started up front against Venezia, winning a penalty that was converted by Christian Pulisic and then scoring his own spot kick after Leao was fouled.

Pulisic actually handed Tammy the ball for his penalty goal despite the American being the designated taker and this shows that he is not only a new tactical influence, but also a teammate well-liked by the whole group.

The coach and players appreciate his spirit while he also seems to have a mature head. It was Abraham who contained Leao and Fofana after Rafa had uprooted one of the corner flags with the Inter logo on it and with Fofana’s shirt on it he had started waving it to the sky. Abraham recommended a more composed celebration and was immediately listened to.

What about his future beyond the loan spell? Abraham has always said and repeated that he wants Milan, that he prefers San Siro even to the big stadiums of the Premier League, and to facilitate the move he also accepted a lower salary than the €5m guaranteed by Roma.

He cannot think too far ahead about the future and must continue to build on a positive start, staying injury-free too ideally, but it is very likely that next summer he will repeat these words: “I want to stay here.”