Aston Villa have been handed a major boost in their chase for Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham this summer.

What's the story?

The England international has had a difficult campaign in the Premier League for the Blues, seeing his game-time limited by the likes of Timo Werner and Olivier Giroud - he's played just over a 1000 minutes in the competition.

Now, The Express and Star claim that Dean Smith's side have been placed on alert after it has emerged that Chelsea are willing to sell Abraham this summer.

The report adds that the Blues will demand a fee of around £40m to let go of the striker, who, if signed, would enjoy a reunion with Smith at Villa Park after his previous loan stint there.

Imagine him and Watkins

Dubbed the "real deal" by former Villa manager Tim Sherwood, Abraham's experience of playing under Smith before should stand him in really good stead were he to make the move back to the Midlands this summer.

Speaking after he netted against Swansea that season, the Villa boss said: "Tammy is a handful and he knows better than me that he should have been walking away with the match ball tonight. But he scored the winning goal, he’s a hell of a talent. Tammy put in a hell of a shift up front on his own and proved he is a fine player."

And, while Abraham's arrival may raise questions about how he would fit alongside Ollie Watkins, former Villa man Lee Hendrie was quick to dismiss those worries, insisting that having the two in the squad would be a "massive positive" for the club.

Speaking exclusively to FFC, he said: "I'm a big fan of Tammy, I really am. I just feel that he's got great energy. When he was at Villa for that period of time, he was immense, he really was. He was a breath of fresh air, he gave it that belief, he gave fans a lot of pleasure and he scored a lot of goals. It might be that Tammy has to leave Chelsea, and I do feel that coming to Villa, I think it'd be a fabulous fit.

"He's a player I'd have all day at the club because, at the moment you're looking at the overload that Ollie Watkins has gone through this season, (he's) played a hell of a lot of games. Imagine having those two in your squad. I just feel that'd be a massive positive push for Villa."

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Villa must simply land the £50k-a-week earning star this summer.

Meanwhile, Villa must avoid disaster over this "scary talent"...