Abraham should follow Ronaldo example, says Swans boss Carvalhal

Swansea City manager Carlos Carvalhal has urged striker Tammy Abraham to follow Cristiano Ronaldo's example to fulfil his potential.

"When a boy has the talent to be a top player there is one path to take," said Carvalhal.

"And if they have principles and dedication they achieve a top level."

Ronaldo, a team-mate of Wales star Gareth Bale's at Real Madrid, has won five Ballon d'Or trophies.

Carvalhal added: "I know in a lot of cases there have been players with a lot of talent at 19, 20 or 21 years old who have promised a lot, but lose the path and never become big players.

"Some of them had more talent than the big players of the world.

"Look at Cristiano Ronaldo. You can see him now at 32, but at 21 or 22 you never saw him involved in a fight at a discotheque, or with problems.

"This is very difficult as you win a lot of money at 20, 21, 22 years old. You are rich, but he continues to be the same guy, with the same work and attitude and it is down to the principles of the family and club.

"Other guys in the same situation lose that path."

Abraham, 20, is on loan at Swansea from Chelsea until the end of the 2017-18 season and has already played for England.

His next chance will come in Swansea's FA Cup home fourth round replay against Notts County on Tuesday, 6 February with Wilfried Bony out injured for the rest of the season.

Ivory Coast striker Bony damaged cruciate ligaments and Dutch midfielder Leroy Fer ruptured an Achilles in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Leicester. Both will have surgery.

Carvalhal said: "You must do good things over a long time, not just one game or five games.

"It is not hard to do that, it is difficult to do it all the time and this is the challenge for Abraham."

'Another Swan will fly'

Transfer window signing Andre Ayew and fellow recruit Andy King are cup-tied and cannot play until Swansea host Burnley in the top flight on Saturday, 10 February.

Portuguese midfielder Renato Sanches is expected to miss another month with a hamstring problem, while Leon Britton and Angel Rangel are still sidelined.

"I believe if one Swan falls, another begins to fly," said Carvalhal as he played down the injury problems.

Carvalhal said Sanches, on a season-long loan from Bayern Munich, is set to miss another "four or five weeks" with a hamstring injury suffered in the 1-1 FA Cup fourth round draw at Notts County.

Britton (groin) and Rangel (groin) remain out of contention.

Swans 'played better with Carroll'

Carvalhal said: "Fer was doing really very well. Bony was getting better day by day.

"But as you saw in the last game (against Leicester), Tom Carroll came on and did not just replace Fer, but also created something because we started playing better. He played really well.

"We have another solution with a new player, Andy King - he will be available at the weekend.

"We also have Sam Clucas who can play in the midfield."