Chelsea's decision-making off the field has severely impacted their performances on it as a club that once challenged for Premier League titles has dramatically slipped down the table.

The Blues have made some costly errors over the years that have contributed to their downfall, from splurging obscene amounts on players that ultimately drained the club's resources to letting go of talented youngsters from their youth academy.

While the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Alvaro Morata and Kepa Arrizabalaga represent the former of the two, academy graduates Fikayo Tomori, Marc Guehi and Tammy Abraham provide a glowing indication, if it was ever needed, that Chelsea have completely blundered with the sales of several homegrown talents.

The departure of Abraham, in particular, has made the Blues pay for this woeful misjudgment.

How much did Chelsea sell Tammy Abraham for?

Abraham fell victim to Chelsea's ruthless policy of loaning out youngsters and where it hasn't worked for several in the past, it was certainly instrumental in his development.

The Englishman enjoyed two successful loan spells at Championship clubs Bristol City and Aston Villa, helping the latter get promoted to the Premier League with 25 goals in 37 appearances in 2018/19.

In between those two loans, he was shipped out to Premier League side Swansea City and although he underwhelmed, mustering only five goals in 31, Abraham used that setback as fuel to fire Villa to the top flight which ultimately earned him the opportunity to shine at Chelsea.

During Frank Lampard's first spell at the club as manager between July 2019 and January 2021, he assisted heavily in the development of academy prodigies Reece James, Mason Mount and Abraham, rewarding their magnificent spells in the second tier with regular opportunities at Stamford Bridge.

While the transfer ban imposed on the Blues in the 2019/20 season dealt a significant blow to their title aspirations, it allowed Lampard to experiment with his abundance of academy stars, and it largely paid off as Abraham fired his side into the Champions League with 15 goals and four assists.

In the following campaign, Abraham's form dropped off rapidly, as did Chelsea's, with the board deciding to plug the trigger on Lampard's time at the club in January, hiring Thomas Tuchel in his place.

The arrival of the German saw the striker restricted to game time and he was subsequently sold to Roma for £34m in that summer.

Where is Tammy Abraham now?

Abraham is still plying his trade in Rome, unfortunately, however, the towering marksman suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury on the final day of last season and is not expected to return until March 2024 at the earliest.

Labelled by Harry Kane as "excellent" for his development under Jose Mourinho, the Englishman plundered 26 goals and four assists in his debut campaign at the club and was hugely influential in Roma's UEFA Europa Conference League triumph in 2022, scoring nine times in 13.

In the summer of 2021, Tuchel replaced Abraham with a £97.5m deal for Romelu Lukaku and although most thought the Belgian would tear Premier League defences to shreds once more, he only mustered eight goals in 26 appearances and to this date, pound for pound, is one of the worst deals in Chelsea history.

Coincidentally currently on loan at Roma, the 30-year-old is on fire with seven goals in eight matches in all competitions, becoming the latest Blues striker to shine away from west London.

Chelsea have become prone to making transfer mishaps and supporters must be tearing their hearts out at the decision to sell Abraham, the striker who has outscored every player at Stamford Bridge since his departure, including summer signing Nicolas Jackson.

Indeed, the Blues academy graduate has found the net 36 times since moving on in 2021, a tally that eclipses the nine Kai Havertz top scored with last term and the 15 Lukaku found the net with in 2021/22.

As for Jackson, the £32m arrival has endured a timid start to life at the club with only two goals in seven appearances so far, but there is still hope that the 22-year-old can live up to the billing of being a clinical source of goals.