Transfer News: Tammy Abraham returns to Aston Villa

The forward returns to the Premier League, re-joining Villa on a permanent basis to help the club’s ambitions to qualify for Champions League football.

We are nearing the end of the 2026 January Transfer Window, and clubs are now running out  of time to improve their squads as they look to strengthen their chances of realising their ambitions for the current campaign as they enter the next few months of the 2025/26 season.

Aston Villa have been amongst the busiest sides in the Premier League so far this month, and their latest completed deal saw them confirm the return of fan favourite Tammy Abraham who has signed a four and a half year deal that expires in 2030. The 28-year-old forward has joined for what is a rumoured £18.25 million from Turkish club Besiktas, with defender Yasin Ozcan going the other way as part of the deal.

Ahead of re-signing for Villa, Abraham had scored 7 goals in the Turkish top flight in 18 appearances, whilst also providing an assist to boot.

On returning to the club, Abraham said (via BBC Sport): “Some clubs play a big part in your journey and stay with you. I’ve scored goals, faced challenges, and grown as a player and as a man. I’m back at Aston Villa, ready to work and give everything.”

Villa fans across the world fondly remember his loan spell with Villa from Chelsea during the 2018/19 season, when Villa were still playing their football in England’s second tier – the Championship.

Over the course of the campaign, Abraham was crucial in earning the club promotion back to the Premier League under former boss Dean Smith. The striker managed to score as many as 26 goals in 40 league matches that term for the West Midlands side.

Abraham’s goal tally also made history – he was the first player since Andy Gray to score 25 goals in a season for Aston Villa since Gray achieved the feat all the way back in 1977. This record was sealed when Tammy scored in a 2 – 0 win against Bolton Wanderers.

This record came after he had achieved the feat of becoming the first Villa player to score 20 goals in a single season since club legend Peter Withe in 1981, earlier in the season.

He was also named in the PFA’s Team of the Year for his efforts in helping Villa achieve promotion to the top tier. Abraham scored in the play-off semi-final first leg against West Brom at Villa Park, whilst also going on to score the winning penalty that took Villa back to Wembley at the Hawthorns.

Abraham was also part of the Villa side that won 10 Championship matches in a row, with his goal sealing the ninth win in this run, which matched the previous record that had been set all the way back in 1910.

After his loan spell with Aston Villa came to an end, Tammy Abraham returned to parent club Chelsea, where, in the 2019/20 season, he was able to score as many as 15 goals in the Premier League as well as 4 assists to boot under the stewardship of Head Coach and club legend Frank Lampard. He also got 3 goals and an assist in that season’s UEFA Champions League.

Then, in the following season, the 2020/21 campaign, he got 6 Premier League goals in 22 games with 2 assists, scoring once and assisting twice in 5 matches in the Champions League. He was a part of the squad that went on to make the Blues Champions of Europe for the second time in the club’s illustrious history.

Then, in the 2021/22 season, Tammy Abraham sealed a permanent move to Italian giants Roma of Serie A, signing for a rumoured transfer fee of €41 million. He had a prolific first season with the I Giallorossi (The Yellow and Reds), scoring as many as 17 goals whilst getting 5 assists to boot in 37 top-flight appearances in Italy.

He also scored 9 goals in 13 games in that season’s UEFA Conference League, where his side made it all the way to the Final, where they beat Dutch giants Feyenoord 1 – 0 to lift the trophy. It was a fellow former Villa player, Nicolo Zaniolo, who scored the winning goal for the club in the first half (32’).

The 2022/23 campaign saw Abraham score 8 goals and 4 assists in 38 Serie A matches for Roma, before then going on to join fellow Italian giants AC Milan on loan for the duration of the 2024/25 season.

During his single season with the Rossoneri (The Red and Blacks), Abraham found the net 3 times whilst providing an additional 5 assists in 28 league matches for the club. He also got 4 goals and an assist in 5 games in the Coppa Italia, whilst also scoring twice and getting an assist in that season’s UEFA Champions League.

Once that campaign had come to an end, Tammy Abraham was loaned out by Roma once again, this time to Turkish heavyweights Besiktas ahead of the start of the current campaign (2025/26).

In the top flight, he scored 7 goals and got an assist to boot in 18 matches, going on to join the Black Eagles on a permanent basis before promptly being sold to Aston Villa, a deal that was publicly announced on the afternoon of Tuesday, 27th January 2026.

All eyes will be on how Tammy performs back at Villa, where he played some of the best football of his career so far. Abraham serves as great competition for fellow forward Ollie Watkins, with both competing for a place in Unai Emery’s starting eleven.

Tammy Abraham will be unable to make his debut in the UEFA Europa League game against RB Salzburg at Villa Park in the final league phase game.

However, he is set to be part of the Villa squad to face Keith Andrews’ Brentford side at B6 in their next Premier League game, with kick-off taking place at 2pm on the afternoon of Sunday 1st February 2026.

Aston Villa do not seem like they are done yet when it comes to transfer business this January.

They are also rumoured to have sealed another reunion with a former player, with the Villans reported to have agreed a loan deal to bring former midfielder Douglas Luiz back to the club on loan from Italian giants Juventus after a short spell with Nottingham Forest this term. Luiz previously spent five years with the Villans from 2019 to 2024.

The loan deal is reported to include an option to buy worth €25 million (£21.7 million) plus add-ons, according to a report from journalist David Ornstein.

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