Southampton's hopes of signing Tammy Abraham on loan from Chelsea this summer have taken a blow, with Chelsea keen to sell the striker on a permanent deal.
What's the word?
Ralph Hasenhuttl is clearly in the market for a striker after Danny Ings joined Aston Villa earlier this month, and Abraham is one name who has been touted as a potential replacement in the Austrian's side.
The Athletic claim that Southampton have explored the option of bringing in Abraham on a season-long loan from Chelsea, but the Stamford Bridge outfit are keen to sell the 23-year-old permanently due to the imminent arrival of Romelu Lukaku from Inter.
It was suggested earlier in the window that Chelsea were looking for as much as £50m for the England international, which will surely rule out Southampton, despite them earning £30m from the sale of Ings to Villa.
Hasenhuttl suggested before the window that Southampton would target players for around £10m or less this summer and it seems unlikely that he will deviate from that transfer policy too much even with the Ings money in the bank.
Therefore, it seems extremely unlikely that Abraham will be moving to Southampton on loan this summer, and Hasenhuttl will have to look for alternative options upfront.
It seems as if the Austrian will look towards Chelsea once again, however, with recent reports claiming that 19-year-old Armando Broja is set to sign on loan from the Blues, following Dynel Simeu and Tino Livramento in making the switch from Stamford Bridge to St Mary's.
Would Abraham have been a good signing?
Although he might not have suited Hasenhuttl's preference for smaller, more agile strikers, there is little doubt that Abraham would have been a good addition to Southampton's side.
The Chelsea academy graduate has shown his class in loan spells with Bristol City and Aston Villa in the Championship before earning his chance in the first-team, contributing an impressive 30 goals and 12 assists in 82 appearances for the Blues.
During his time at Aston Villa, where he hit 26 goals in 40 appearances, he won the praise of former captain Jack Grealish, who dubbed the striker "unbelievable".
The six-foot-four striker could have offered an alternative option for Hasenhuttl up front and would've been more adept at playing the target man role and bringing others into play, which is something the Austrian manager has lacked in recent seasons.
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Therefore, Southampton fans will no doubt be very disappointed that Abraham isn't a viable replacement for Ings this summer, as he could've been a huge success at St Mary's.
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