Tammy Abraham has admitted he supported and helped Chelsea trio Mason Mount, Reece James and Callum Hudson-Odoi during his time at the club.
The 24-year-old ended his time in west London in the summer following a £34 million switch to AS Roma.
Abraham fell out of favour under Thomas Tuchel and was subsequently left with no choice but to find a new club to guarantee himself minutes.
He has made an excellent start to life in Italy, scoring four and assisting three in ten appearances.
Abraham was given his chance by Frank Lampard. The former Chelsea boss gave several academy stars the chance to impress on a weekly basis for the Blues.
Mount, James and Hudson-Odoi, who was already in and around the squad prior to Lampard's arrival, became frequent players in the Lampard regime.
But Abraham is the first of the quartet to depart, after Fikayo Tomori who also made a permanent switch to Italy, to AC Milan. 82 appearances, 30 goals and 12 assists later, Abraham will be fondly missed by all at the club, in the dressing room and in the stands.
Now he has opened up on his time in west London following an England call-up, sharing how he supported the likes of Mount, James and Hudson-Odoi during his time in the first-team.
What Tammy Abraham said
“I think the easy option would’ve been to stick around and sit down,” reflected Abraham on his Stamford Bridge exit.
“Chelsea’s a massive club, they will compete and try to win trophies so the easy option would’ve been to do that.
“I realised that I needed to go out and prove myself, I needed to play some games. I took a decision and it was the right one.
“I think at first it’s quite tough to deal with. You’ve gone from playing regularly to not being in the mix and not even making the bench sometimes. I got to a point where I had to sit down and talk to myself. I was going out to train and I was doing it for me.
“I was going to train to better myself because it’s easy to throw a strop, to be angry around the place, to be a bad egg.
“For me, it was the opposite. I learned about myself and I think that strengthened my mindset. I was with the team whenever they needed me.
Abraham added he played a role in developing stars like Mount, James and Hudson-Odoi due to being the more senior youngster at the club.
He added: “Players like Mason (Mount), Reece James, Callum Hudson-Odoi – the players that are younger than me, I kind of had to lift them and be their support, help them and encourage them.
“At the end of the day, we won trophies as a team so I have to thank them for that.”
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