John Barnes has defended ’s decision to sell former striker despite his impressive first season at Roma.
Abraham completed a £34m move to Italy last summer, having spent more than a decade at Stamford Bridge as an academy star and then first-team regular.
The England international scored 30 goals in 82 appearances for Chelsea but was deemed surplus to requirements after ’s £97.5m return to west London from Inter Milan.
Under former Blues boss Jose Mourinho, Abraham has enjoyed a superb debut season in Serie A, scoring 17 goals despite Roma’s inconsistent form.
Abraham’s tally for the campaign is more than all of Chelsea’s current strikers combined and has sparked debate from fans and pundits over the Premier League club’s decision to let him leave.
But former England and Liverpool winger Barnes told : ‘Chelsea didn’t make a mistake by letting Tammy Abraham go, despite the fact he’s scored more than all their strikers combined this season.
‘Abraham wasn’t scoring for Chelsea. Just because a player is doing well elsewhere doesn’t mean a club made a mistake in letting them go.
‘Obviously, the club he’s currently at, Roma just suits him more.
‘Arsenal didn’t make a mistake in moving Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on, just because he’s scored six goals in seven games for Barcelona. It just wasn’t happening for Tammy at Chelsea.’
Abraham’s form for Roma has not only – who are believed to have a buy-back clause set at £68m – but also the .
But Abraham appears to be loving life in Rome and says he is still ‘star-struck’ by legendary manager Mourinho.
Speaking to CBS Sports earlier this month, Abraham said: ‘I still look up to him as an idol. And I never told him this, but every time I see him I’m still star-struck even though I see him every day.
‘When he was at Chelsea, I was there but I was still a young kid. I trained with him a couple of times so I knew what he was like a little bit and since coming here, I call him my uncle of Rome.’
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