Chelsea ready to thwart offers from London rivals for 22-year-old attacker

Chelsea are set to turn down offers from Fulham for Armando Broja in January

According to the Evening Standard, Chelsea will reject any approach from London rivals Fulham for Armando Broja in the 2024 January transfer window. Blues’ boss Mauricio Pochettino is keen to use the striker in the upcoming games and he appears likely to play a bigger role in the second half of the campaign.

Fulham are looking to replace Aleksandar Mitrovic, who joined Saudi club Al-Hilal in the summer. Broja who recently returned from a knee injury will be keen to make a difference upfront for the Blues. He won the decisive penalty against Manchester City before the international break and will now hope to push on to bigger things.

The future of the Albanian striker remains doubtful if Chelsea signs another striker in January, which could impede Broja’s game time given that Nicolas Jackson is also ahead of him in the pecking order. However, the fact that the Blues are unwilling to jettison him off midway through the campaign could hint at opportunities being around the corner.

The 22-year-old was also approached by AC Milan and West Ham United, but Chelsea refused to entertain any offer as Pochettino wants Broja to be part of his project. The Argentine tactician knows a thing or two about developing young strikers and we hope Broja will be the latest name to do justice to that reputation.

Broja has all the abilities a striker possesses, and once he is back to full fitness, there is reason to believe he could be a reliable centre-forward for us. The Albanian is just 22 and has plenty of room for development in the years to come.

He hasn’t played the full 90 minutes this season, but the Blues want him to patiently find his rhythm. With Jackson still raw, it will not come as a surprise should Pochettino opt to rotate between both attackers.

But we also need to be aware that Broja might move down to the third option in the No. 9 spot if we bring in a striker. What would happen to Broja if we were to sign Victor Osimhen? All those questions would be rendered moot should Broja go on to enjoy a purple patch of form heading into January.

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Chelsea’s decision to not welcome offers for Broja would indicate that the chances of us bringing in a new striker are low in January. It might change next summer should Jackson and Broja fail to fill in the void. For now, the 22-year-old is still a Chelsea player and the onus is on him to earn his spot for the future at Stamford Bridge.