Aston Villa manager Dean Smith has said that he is not worried about the prospect of losing Tammy Abraham despite the Englishman being linked with a potential return to Chelsea during the current transfer window. The 21-year-old joined the Villains on a season-long long from the Blues last summer and he has since been a revelation with 16 goals which sees him leading the Championship scoring charts alongside Billy Sharp.
Amidst this, a report from The Sun has indicated that the striker may seek to terminate his loan contract in order to pursue a temporary move to a Premier League-based club this month but Smith remains optimistic that the marksman would stay put with the Villains as the Blues would not want to hamper his progress during the current campaign.
“I am not worried [about losing him],” Smith told BBC Radio WM via their official Twitter account.
“The kids scored 16 goals for us, he’s enjoying himself, he’s developing as a player as you can see with his connection with the fans and the players.
“There is always going to be speculation. But I will be amazed if he would want or Chelsea or ourselves would want to upset that.”
Villa have struggled to find form during the festive period and the 2-2 draw against Queens Park Rangers on New Year’s Day was the fifth occasion they had failed to win over the past six matches, although four of those have produced draws. The results have dropped them up to 10th on the table but they still stand a good chance of making the playoffs with the teams in the top six likewise dropping points during the hectic schedule.
The west Midlands side are currently just five points behind Derby County and Middlesbrough, who are occupying the sixth and fifth positions respectively and this only increases the need to keep hold of Abraham, who has been saving the club’s blushes over the past few weeks where they have not been at the best with the defensive side of their game.
