18 January 2024 , 12:37
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Armando Broja is determined to make the grade at Chelsea - despite the club's willingness to consider permanent transfer offers this month.
The 22-year-old striker is now attracting interest from Wolves, West Ham and Fulham as Mauricio Pochettino continues his desperate search for goals in attack. Wolves would favour a loan deal - a proposition currently of little interest to Chelsea unless reinforcements arrive - while the Hammers have been tracking Broja for the best part of two years.
Fulham, who also like defender Trevoh Chalobah, would have to sell Rodrigo Muniz or Carlos Vinicius if they were to launch a serious push for Broja. The Albania international has started three of Chelsea's past four Premier League matches but he has only found the net once in the top-flight this season.
Pochettino desires a greater output and the Blues are now willing to entertain bids for Broja, who signed a new six-year deal at Stamford Bridge in September 2022.
Chelsea will demand upto £50million for the former Southampton loanee but the player is still confident in his abilities and wants to prove his worth in west London.
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Broja had previously been the subject of interest from Napoli and AC Milan before rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament during a mid-season friendly against Aston Villa in Dubai in December 2022. He has since returned to full fitness and has been handed plenty of opportunities to impress this term but, so far, he has failed to nail down a starting berth due to his lack of conviction in the final third.
Chelsea's Armando Broja has only mustered two goals in all competitions this season (Getty Images)Chelsea recognise that more goals will be required if they're to force their way back into Champions League reckoning and the club are actively exploring the possibility of signing another No.9 in the final weeks of the winter window. Due to a lack of options within the market, they're likely to pursue a short-term solution until the summer when they're expected to launch a big-money swoop for Napoli striker Victor Osimhen. Ivan Toney is no longer on their agenda and he favours a move to Arsenal, anyway.
Roberto Firmino is not thought to be an active target and the Brazilian is likely to stay at Al Ahli despite his struggles in Saudi Arabia. Karim Benzema has also been linked with a surprise switch to Stamford Bridge but Chelsea are yet to show any concrete interest in landing the former Real Madrid icon, whose future at Al Ittihad was recently plunged into doubt.
Christopher Nkunku has failed to maintain fitness since his return to action and he remains sidelined with a hip problem.