Mourinho fires dig at Tammy Abraham over England World Cup squad ‘distraction’

Jose Mourinho has fired a dig at Tammy Abraham by suggesting that the striker is distracted by the prospect of a call-up to England’s World Cup squad.

The 25-year-old has scored just once in his last 12 appearances for Roma and delivered another sub-par performance in the 1-0 defeat to Lazio on Sunday.

Abraham has been pushing to win a place in Gareth Southgate’s squad for England’s World Cup campaign in Qatar that begins later this month.

And Mourinho has now hinted that the former Chelsea striker is suffering from a lack of focus.

When asked about Abraham’s recent poor performances, Mourinho fired back: ‘You should ask him what’s the problem.

‘If he is distracted, if he has a problem or if he’s thinking about the World Cup.’

Abraham was included in England’s last squad during the September international break but did not feature in either of their two Nations League games against Germany or Italy.

He now faces strong competition for a place in England’s World Cup squad with both Callum Wilson and Ivan Toney making stronger arguments to be included.

Toney is England’s highest-scoring player after Harry Kane in the Premier League this season with eight goals for Brentford.

Wilson, meanwhile, has been hampered by injury this season but the 30-year-old has still scored six goals in 10 Premier League appearances for Newcastle United.

Southgate will confirm England’s 26-man squad for the World Cup at 2pm on November 10.

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