London: Tammy Abraham has been warned by Chelsea boss Frank Lampard to focus on his faltering form as opposed to a new contract.
Abraham made a superb start to his breakthrough Premier League campaign, scoring 12 top-flight goals before the turn of the year, while also netting for the first time at senior international level with England.
However, the 22-year-old has not scored since January 11 and lost his starting place upon the post-coronavirus restart.
Timo Werner’s pending arrival from RB Leipzig further complicates matters for Abraham, who is yet to agree an extension to a Chelsea deal that expires in June 2022.
“I think Tammy’s contract, we’re not at a critical level with it and I’ll leave that between him and the club to discuss that side of it,” Lampard said ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Crystal Palace.
“I don’t think it’s something that’s in his mind. It certainly shouldn’t be.
“What needs to be in his mind now is these games we have coming up and how much he can give us on the pitch, whether he’s coming on as sub or starting games.
“He has had a really good season. He hasn’t scored so much in the second half of the season and, as a young player, it’s always clear when you have those periods there’s only one way out of it.
“That’s work and repetition in training – every moment you get trying to make the most out of it.
“I just think that’s where Tammy’s at. The contract will hopefully look after itself between him and the club. He just needs to focus on giving us that Tammy that we had earlier in the season, who was giving defenders so much of a problem during games and scoring regularly.
