Thomas Tuchel has said he will leave Tammy Abraham’s future in the player’s hands as Jose Mourinho phones the forward who would prefer a move to Arsenal.

Thomas Tuchel says that it will be up to Tammy Abraham whether he stays at Chelsea and fights for his place or if he moves to another club, even though Chelsea and Roma have agreed a deal, despite Abraham reportedly preferring to move to Arsenal.

Speaking to the press ahead of Chelsea’s UEFA Super Cup game in Belfast against Unai Emery’s Villarreal, Tuchel said, “He was clearly not happy with the last half a year.

“Maybe he has reason not to be happy and maybe it was also my fault, not to push him and trust him on the same level I trusted other players.

“I can absolutely understand that he wants more minutes so that decision will be: how do we plan, what are Tammy’s plans, does he fight his way back into the team from the position where he ended last season or does he want to change club to have a better chance to be a regular starter, which I can completely understand?”

In the papers in Italy, it is being framed as a wage issue. Roma have offered Abraham €4m-year (net) while the player supposedly wants €5m.

Long before wages were mentioned, however, it was claimed that Abraham would prefer a move across London to the club he supported as a boy than to Rome to join up with Jose Mourinho.

Arsenal, however, have not yet submitted a bid for Abraham, but they were supposedly meeting with his agent on Tuesday.