Tammy Abraham says he wants to be ‘even better’ than boyhood hero Thierry Henry.
The Chelsea youngster has had a sensational season in the Championship on loan at Bristol City, taking his goal tally to 24 after bagging a brace in a 3-1 home win over Wolves on Saturday.
And it has encouraged the 19-year-old to believe he can go right to the very top in the game.
“I believe in myself. I believe in my ability,” he said. “I know that I’ve got massive potential to be a big star in the world and I’m just going to keep driving myself to do whatever I can and this is the first step. I’m willing to take any challenge that comes my way.
“I look to a lot of strikers – like Diego Costa. He might be a different player to me but he’s still Diego Costa and I’d like to build that reputation for myself and be known as one of the best strikers in the world.
“Someone I used to look up to was Thierry Henry. Just to see his variations of finishing, his movement, the way he dribbles. I would obviously love to be as big as him and to be even better, maybe. I just have to see what I need to develop to get up to that kind of level.”
The young striker has also been massively encouraged this season by the attention he has received from Chelsea during his year-long loan spell.
Far from being out of sight and out of mind, Abraham’s progress has been closely monitored all season and he has been getting great feedback.
“I didn’t expect as much contact as I’ve had, but they always get back to you, after watching your games, telling you what you’ve done well and where you need to improve,” he said.
“I’ve heard that it gets back to Antonio Conte, and he knows how it’s going. It’s always a nice bonus when players like John Terry are sending you a little text, knowing how you’re doing and saying well done. It gives you that confidence really.”
Abraham, who plans to come to Stamford Bridge to watch Chelsea’s U18 final against Man City, knows that breaking into Chelsea’s first team will be a huge challenge and the likeliest scenario in the short terms is a loan spell at a top flight club next season.
But whatever happens, he knows he has made great strides – being a first team regular at Ashton Gate and earning the adulation of home fans, who appreciate levels of commitment not normally associated with loan signings.
“I knew what I had to do when I came here,” said the Chelsea youngster of his spell in Bristol.
“The fans made me feel welcome, everyone made me feel very welcome and it felt like family as soon as I settled in and I got playing. I gave my all and I’m still giving my all for the team.
“It’s been a massive challenge for me. It’s different. I was playing for the U21s last season so it’s obviously a step up. It’s been hard and you get to adapt and hopefully I have developed myself.
“I think I’ve learned a lot playing against players bigger than me, older than me, stronger than me and I’ve had to adapt my style of play. Finding the weakness of your opponent and using it as your strength.”