Tammy Abraham should relish the idea of increased competition for places at Chelsea following the signing of Timo Werner.
That's according to Blues head coach Frank Lampard.
After a successful loan spell with Aston Villa, Abraham has benefitted from the club's transfer ban last summer as well as the decision not to dip into the transfer market in January.
The England international has won the battle with Olivier Giroud and Michy Batshuayi to be the first-choice striker so far this season, and has responded with some impressive performances.
However, he has another battle to overcome when Werner arrives at Stamford Bridge this summer.
On Thursday the Blues confirmed the signing of the 24-year-old Germany international after paying his £47.5million release clause at Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig.
Capable of playing on the flank as well as through the middle, Werner will certainly improve Chelsea's attacking options ahead of the new season and Abraham has been urged to prove he's up for the fight.
"Yes, I have spoken to Tammy before on the idea of competition and I don’t feel the need to have to address every player after one comes in at a club like Chelsea because that’s what it is about," Lampard revealed i n his pre-Aston Villa press conference.
"It has been about that in its most successful years in recent years in the Roman Abramovich era mainly.
"Tammy has had a really good season for us and he has to sustain and improve on that because at Chelsea we have demands.
"I am happy to have options and we have options in forward areas and we must have competition for places.
"I am pleased with the idea of that."
With that said, Lampard has already been told how he could get the best from the German in a partnership with Werner.
"I think [Werner] can play off Tammy Abraham, I think he’s got that much ability," Peter Crouch said on talkSPORT radio. "Obviously he can play through the middle but he definitely can play on the wings as well so I don’t think it will affect [Abraham] too much.
"I think Tammy’s done enough to warrant his choice as No 1 striker at the minute and I think they’ll complement each other if anything."
