Talent alone is never enough, you've to put in the hard yards: Abraham

Chelsea's Tammy Abraham said that "talent alone is never enough" and one must put in the hard yards to grow as a player, adding that he is trying to become the "best" version of himself.

"You have to be hungry and work hard because you see a lot of talent at the younger ages when you're growing up at Chelsea but we know that talent alone is never enough," the club's official website quoted Abraham as saying.

"You have to put in that extra work and work even harder. For me right now, it's still all about working as hard as I can and trying to be the best I can be," he added.

Abraham has made 21 Chelsea appearances already this term but the player has admitted he still gets taken aback from time to time at how quickly he has emerged onto the senior stage at Stamford Bridge following a 15-year association with his boyhood club.

Much of that journey was spent in the club's Academy but it is his time on loans at Bristol City, Swansea City and Aston Villa that have taught him most about adapting to the men's game.

"I dreamt about it as a little boy and I still feel like I'm dreaming today. I've been at the club since the age of seven so you can imagine how much I've always wanted to make it to the top level. I still have to pinch myself now and then when I realise where I am today. I think you need the experience of going out on loan as a young kid, playing men's football at the top level. I was getting kicked and scratched in games and you have to learn that ugly side of football as well," he said.

"It really prepared me to know what I had to come back and do. I had to learn to use my body more because you don't need it as much as a kid growing up. I learnt about being in the right positions, had to work on my finishing of course, and just try to understand my team-mates more. That's the main thing I've learnt over the years," Abraham added.

( With inputs from ANI )