Report: Newcastle join the race to land 20-year-old Chelsea star

Newcastle United consider making an opening offer for Chelsea star Armando Broja

The race for Armando Broja is starting to heat up, as Newcastle United are now giving serious consideration to making an opening offer for the Chelsea striker. 

Broja has been attracting a lot of attention from several clubs in the Premier League and elsewhere from across Europe. According to CBS journalist Ben Jacobs (h/t football.london), Newcastle are keen on throwing their name in the hat and launching an opening offer to test the waters. 

The Albanian remains a prime target for London rivals West Ham United, while Leicester City are believed to be keeping tabs on his situation. As far as attention from outside England goes, Napoli have been courting Broja for a while now, and Ajax Amsterdam have made an enquiry for the 20-year-old as leading marksman Sebastien Haller looks set to join Borussia Dortmund. 

Broja impressed on loan at Southampton last season, scoring nine goals in 38 appearances for the Saints. There is no smoke without fire, so Chelsea will be wary of the supreme talent they have at their disposal, especially when so many clubs are ready to spend big on such a young player. 

The Cobham graduate is extremely athletic with great upper-body strength which is a valuable asset for a Premier League striker to have in holding off defenders. Broja has shown that he is capable of scoring all kinds of goals from all sorts of positions, especially in really tight areas.

Thomas Tuchel’s stance on Broja hasn’t changed, with the German keen on assessing him during pre-season. Should he impress the German, expect Broja to go nowhere. 

Pre-season will determine Broja’s future at Chelsea

The Blues are actively on the hunt in the transfer market to find solutions for their goal-scoring troubles. A move for Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling is close to being over the line. 

Chelsea are going to need a forward, maybe not an out-and-out No. 9 but a supporting striker. Broja has shown that he is capable of playing both roles, so that will give Tuchel the flexibility to use him according to his dynamic requirements. 

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Even if Broja is deemed to be not ready to take the mantle, under no circumstance should he be sold.  A loan deal to a Premier League side is okay since he needs to play regularly irrespective of where he is. Sitting on the bench at Chelsea wouldn’t be a viable solution for anyone involved.