Dean Saunders claimed Aston Villa were a bigger club than Chelsea and suggested that Tammy Abraham joins them on a permanent basis.
The former Villans player shared that Chelsea had been made a big club by their owner Roman Abramovich in recent years, but traditionally Aston Villa are the bigger club if you were to compare the two.
Saunders made this claim when sharing that he thought Abraham should sign for the Villans straight away if they ask him to play for them in the Premier League next season as he might not get playing time at Stamford Bridge.
“I think seeing as I have played at the club, you should be proud to play for Aston Villa,” said Saunders on talkSPORT (8:09am, Tuesday June 4th).
“You should be proud, if that club asks you to play for them in the Premier League, you should sign straight away.
“Again they don’t fancy him at Chelsea (Alan Brazil points out that may change), well his agent is going to have to find out these things before he agrees to it.
“But Dean Smith obviously likes him and to have a manager to have faith in him…who is going to be in charge of Chelsea? We don’t know.
“Is he going to play for two games and leave him out? But at Villa they want him, they’re proud of him, they’re a massive club, actually a bigger club than Chelsea.
“Listen to this, the owner of Chelsea has more money than Villa so he has made Chelsea a big club but actually traditionally Aston Villa is a bigger club than Chelsea.
“It is.”
OPINION
Saunders may have a point about the Villans traditionally being a bigger club than Chelsea, but to directly say the Villans are bigger in the current climate, comes off absurd. Chelsea finished third in the Premier League in their 2018/19 campaign and won the Europa League at the expense of Arsenal. Whereas Aston Villa in their 2018/19 campaign weren’t even in England’s top-flight as they were battling to win promotion from the Championship. As for Saunders’ remarks on Abraham, they are much more understandable. The 21-year-old shone at Villa Park in his latest season while on loan from Chelsea as he scored 26 goals in 42 outings. Abraham clearly would get utilised properly by Dean Smith if he joined the Villans on a permanent basis, which may not be the case at Stamford Bridge. After all the 21-year-old has only managed three appearances for Chelsea’s first-team despite being at the club since a young age. Luckily for Abraham, the Daily Mirror claimed Chelsea would be open to selling him to Villa if they met his price tag.