Chelsea coach Maurizio Sarri was certain to be quizzed on Tammy Abraham's failed move to Premier League rivals Cardiff City at Friday afternoon's press conference.

Cardiff City boss Neil Warnock was furious over the manner in which Chelsea handled his request to sign Abraham on a season-long loan as they never got back to him, only for the striker to join Aston Villa before the close of the loan window on August 31.

Now, Sarri has revealed that the Nigeria Football Federation target had been expected to stay put at Chelsea but changed his mind few days before the close of the loan window.

The Italian told reporters: ''I don’t know what to say. Tammy until two days wanted to stay here. Until the last day there was an offer from Villa and he decided suddenly to go there. ''

Abraham is in line to make his Aston Villa debut when they tackle Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park on Saturday in the Championship.

The 20-year-old was on target for England U21s in their win against Latvia U21s on Tuesday.

Igho Kingsley

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