Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock has hit out at Chelsea for allowing Tammy Abraham to join Championship side Aston Villa rather than transfer to the Bluebirds in the summer.
The 20-year-old has spent the past two seasons away from Stamford Bridge on loan at Bristol City and Swansea and completed a similar transfer to Villa towards the end of the transfer window.
After falling short in the play-off final last season, Villa will probably be looking to go one better this time around with Steve Bruce augmenting his squad with other formidable signings including Yannick Bolasie.
Nevertheless, Warnock has criticised Chelsea for not loaning Abraham out to a Premier League membership and accused them of ‘lacking class’ after failing to present him a courtesy call.
‘I wanted Tammy Abraham from day one. I spoke to Eddie Newton about it, but he ended up at Aston Villa,’ Warnock stated.
READ ALSO: Transfer: Chelsea agree to pay £35 million for Arsenal midfielder
‘It might have been because our deadline was three weeks before the Championship’s. Maybe they weren’t sure at the time and then he finally ends up leaving at the end of the month, when only a transfer to a Championship club is possible.
‘But even then, a telephone call would have been better and proven a bit of class.
‘Tammy would have been my main man in the Premier League – certainly that would have been better for him? I don’t understand it. Certainly they would want him playing in the Premier League?
‘I don’t think it was a question over the size of the loan payment — we would have paid it. I just felt the way we played, he would have enjoyed it and had an influence. I missed out on a couple of players waiting for him too, which disappointed me. However that’s life.’
Abraham earned his first senior international cap for England last November when he performed against Germany and despite an indifferent campaign with Cardiff’s rivals Swansea, he’s considered one of the country’s top young attackers.
He scored for England U21s against Latvia during the international break and is in line to make his Villa debut against Blackburn at the weekend.
Cardiff, meanwhile, will be looking to claim their first win of the season although they face a daunting trip to Abraham’s parent club Chelsea on Saturday. Maurizio Sarri’s side have a 100 per cent record in the league so far.
Although Warnock’s team have acquitted themselves properly since promotion, they’ve failed to score in three of their opening 4 fixtures which highlights why Warnock was so eager to add a striker of Abraham’s ilk to his squad.
