Chelsea head coach, Frank Lampard, says he is not surprised Nigeria are chasing Tammy Abraham as a valuable addition to the Super Eagles.
Lampard spoke after the Chelsea Academy graduate scored a hat-trick to help the Blues win 5-2 at Wolves on Saturday.
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Abraham rose to the top of the Premier League scoring charts on seven goals as the treble at Molineux added to braces in each of his previous two appearances.
The 21-year-old, who won the two senior England caps he has to date in friendlies in 2017, was not part of Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions squad for the recent international break.
Asked about Abraham potentially being considered for the next England squad, Lampard said: “The way he is going, it is obviously going to put him into that bracket.
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“Without telling Gareth what to do… But to score seven goals in three games and be top-scorer and play with the quality he is playing his all-round game…
“The three different types of goals he scored were exactly what you want from Tammy. A messy one, a good header and then a fantastic feet and finish goal.
“He has to sustain it and has to get even better. He has to be hungry, which I know he is. He can never rest on his laurels because there is more work to be done.
“And that England squad is a few weeks away. So he needs to keep playing at that level and he’ll have a great chance, I’d suggest.”
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Nigeria have not given up on persuading Abraham to switch to the three-time African champions.
When Lampard was asked if he had spoken to the player about that, he said: “No.
“I don’t really. That’s obviously not my choice. I know Tammy has been in England squads before and I’m not surprised Nigeria would want him. But it’s a question for him I suppose”.
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Another Chelsea Academy graduate, Fikayo Tomori, scored his first Chelsea goal with a stunner against Wolves on Saturday.
Nigeria are looking at adding him too to their squad.
Former Chelsea man, Ola Aina, has already switched from England to Nigeria.
As did former international, Victor Moses, who currently plays at Fenerbahçe, on loan from Chelsea
