It’s always a shame when things go wrong for a young prospect from a football club’s academy. Unfortunately, there is no room for complacency at the highest level of football and that is the case with Chelsea at the moment.
Armando Broja is a popular figure among supporters, especially those who focus more on Cobham’s development and youth teams. So it was a very happy day for all involved when the 22-year-old made his first league start since tearing his ACL, making an 11-minute cameo against Aston Villa in September. From 2022. Broha scored his first Premier League goal in a 2-0 win over Fulham in October. It was a big day for the Albanian international, who had long been waiting for a breakthrough. Unfortunately for Broja, those goals were few and far between. His second goal of the season came in a 4-0 win over Preston North End earlier this month.
He gave Chelsea everything in terms of freedom of movement and possession, but he didn’t give the team what they needed to seriously compete in the Premier League. Now that we’re more than halfway through the January transfer window, some Premier League clubs are looking around. Interest in the Slough-born Albanian striker is high, with West Ham United and another unnamed Premier League club inquiring about his availability, football.london understands. Chelsea are said to be ready for Broza to leave this month and would prefer a permanent deal.
The club are demanding around £50m for the centre-forward, but want to sign another forward first. But if he were to receive the aforementioned £50m, it would be hard to turn him down. If Brodge is a product of the academy, £50m would be a net profit and with everything going on elsewhere in terms of the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Regulations (PSR), the club is trying to compete . The best form. Chelsea are scouring the transfer market this month to see what they can do, but are in no rush to pay what they consider “excessive” money for any player.
What happens at PSR could change the transfer market forever. Fees have exploded in recent years, to the point where £100m doesn’t seem like an outrageous sum these days. But those days are over and average player prices are expected to fall as clubs become more cautious about doing business. This will also affect overseas competitions. Many other leagues around the world are heavily dependent on the Premier League and the endless amount of money it spends on players. However, this too may change as the PSR becomes more stringent.
This may be true in a general sense, but if Broza is sold, Chelsea may be given the green light to solve their striker problems. Karim Benzema has recently been linked with a move to the Premier League and Chelsea are also said to be keeping an eye on his situation.
The 36-year-old has been unhappy with life in Saudi Arabia since joining Al Ittihad last summer. Benzema appears keen to return to Europe to see out the rest of his illustrious career and Chelsea have been mentioned as an option.
If Broza leaves, Chelsea will suddenly have £50m at their disposal. Transferring Benzema seems to be the most reasonable approach at the moment. His wages are huge and the club don’t want to cover everything, so a six-month loan could be the best option if Chelsea were to sign the Frenchman.
This also makes sense considering Chelsea could sign Viktor Osimhen or Ivan Toni in the summer transfer window. Both strikers are big targets for the club but are considered virtually unavailable in the middle of the season.
