Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta has backed striker Tammy Abraham to win the Premier League’s Golden Boot award this season after his impressive start to the season. The Spaniard also insisted Chelsea must discover their “killer instinct” to finish teams off.
The 22-year-old Abraham, who spent last season on loan at Aston Villa, netted his 11th league goal of the season against the Midlands side on Wednesday night. That means he is three goals behind top scorer Jamie Vardy and ahead of the likes of Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, Sergio Aguero and Harry Kane.
He netted 26 goals on loan at Villa in the Championship last term and Azpilicueta believes the academy graduate can now overtake Vardy and finish this season as the Premier League’s leading scorer.
“If Tammy scores the most goals, then the team will do better as well,” said Azpiliceuta. “It is something we are looking at as a team and I am confident that he can get many more goals because of the way he is working and improving since he started pre-season.
“It is amazing and he has the potential to go even higher. We know we are still in December with a lot of games, but with his passion and hunger, he is capable of getting to the top, for sure.
“He is second after Vardy. Vardy is doing an amazing season with a lot of goals and Tammy is behind him, so if he is there it is because he deserves to be. He is scoring goals. Not only is he scoring goals, but he is also playing for the team, recovering the ball and he made a tackle in our own half that was an amazing effort for him.
Abraham has established himself as head coach Frank Lampard’s first-choice striker ahead of Belgium international Michy Batshuayi and France World Cup winner Olivier Giroud despite initial doubts about whether he could cut it out in the top flight after his disappointing season at Swansea.
