These stories are samples pulled from external media sources. They do not represent the views or position of Chelsea Football Club.

Parlour urges Abraham to stay with England

TalkSport pundit Ray Parlour feels Tammy Abraham should commit his international future to England amid attempts by Nigeria to lure the Chelsea striker away from the Three Lions.

The 21-year-old has represented England at various youth levels and earned two senior caps for his country in 2017. However, neither was a competitive international game, raising the possibility he could still play for Nigeria, the homeland of his father.

While Abraham was not called up by head coach Gareth Southgate for England’s upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Kosovo, Parlour has urged the youngster to stay patient.

‘If he keeps scoring goals, he will definitely get into the England squad,’ said the former Arsenal midfielder.

‘Jamie Vardy has retired and they’re lacking a little bit up front. He’s got an opportunity to be in the squad, but obviously he won’t be in front of Harry Kane.”

‘Once you start with a country as a youngster, I think you should stick with them,” Parlour added.

‘It’s up to the player; he’s looking at whether he’ll get an opportunity. It’s a battle, because there are a lot of good players at England, and you’ll get a lot more caps if you go elsewhere.

‘As a manager, you’d be on the phone straight away saying, “You’re in my plans, keep playing as you are, and you’ll get an opportunity”. That’s what I’d be doing if I was Gareth Southgate.’

Mount an inspiration to Gibbs-White

According to the Daily Mail, Wolves midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White has named Mason Mount as one of two former England Under-21 team-mates who are serving as inspirations to him as he also looks to make the breakthrough to the senior team.

Mount and Leicester City’s James Maddison both played for England with Gibbs-White at this summer’s European Under-21 Championship before earning call-ups from Gareth Southgate to join the senior team for upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Kosovo.

Their success has inspired players like Gibbs-White to continue to work for their opportunity to represent their country at senior level.

'With the pathway that's going through the England set-up at the minute, it's frightening,' said the 19-year-old of Mount and Maddison.

‘It's only an age group away, so it's definitely a benchmark because seeing that they can do it shows that anyone can do it.

‘It shows they have learned from that tournament and are cracking on with the season and look where it's got them.’

Pulisic intrigued by Olympics

Christian Pulisic has told the Associated Press he is intrigued by the idea of playing for the United States at next year’s Olympics in Japan.

Speaking ahead of the Americans’ upcoming international matches against Mexico and Uruguay, the 20-year-old revealed he was open to the idea although it could see him missing out on Chelsea’s pre-season preparations next summer.

‘I would never completely count that out because it’s a huge honour to play for your country in the Olympics,’ said Pulisic.

‘A lot of factors come into play, I guess, but we’ll see.’

Clubs are not required to release players for the Olympic football tournament, which will run from July 23 to August 8 next year, at a time when most European teams are gearing up for the new campaign.

The competition is restricted to players under the age of 23, with three overage players allowed for the final tournament.