Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has said that he does not believe that Tammy Abraham’s contract negotiations are affecting his performances.
The 22-year-old Blues centre forward started the season strongly and was believed to be close to agreeing a new deal.
“I think Tammy’s contract, we are not at a critical level with it,” Lampard said as quoted by Sky Sports.
“I will leave it with him and the club to discuss that side of it. I don’t think it is something that is clearly in his mind now, at least it shouldn’t be.
“What needs to be in his mind now is these games we have coming up and how much he can give us on the pitch, whether coming on as a sub or starting the game.”
Though he found the back of the net against Crystal Palace on Tuesday in Chelsea’s 3-2 Premier League victory, Abraham has struggled to score regularly during the past few months.
Veteran striker Olivier Giroud has since overtaken him in the Blues pecking order for the time being.
Giroud has been performing when given the opportunities and one cannot deny that the Frenchman deserves to be Chelsea’s first-choice number nine for the time being.
Abraham has not been the only Chelsea youngster who has impressed this season.
Others such as Callum Hudson-Odoi, Reece James, Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori have all received new contracts as a result of their performances.
Abraham has just two years remaining on his contract and has yet to sign a new deal with the club.
There is also speculation about whether Abraham has a bright future at Stamford Bridge.
This is due to the fact that the Blues will welcome Timo Werner to their squad this summer.
Werner is widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the world and is very likely to start for Chelsea at the beginning of next season.
If Lampard continues to operate using one striker, it may mean that Abraham and Giroud drop to the bench.
Whilst Giroud is at a stage where he can afford for that to happen, Abraham is not.
