Chelsea must keep hold of the next Diego Costa

James Shearman

• 19 Jan 2022 16:33 GMT
• 3 min read

Armando Broja has been tipped to finally replace Diego Costa at Stamford Bridge but, first, Chelsea must see off interest from a number of clubs.

Broja is enjoying the second loan move of his career, at Southampton, where he has scored five goals in nine Premier League starts.

Now, the Saints, among others, are lining up bids to make the Albanian a permanent member of their team.

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And, it is thought that the Blues would entertain his sale for a decent fee, potentially in the region of £25m - which they commanded for Fikayo Tomori from AC Milan last year.

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel also failed to rule out that this could be the case, although he did show an appreciation for Broja's game.

''Armando’s getting better and better, he’s a very unique player with unique strengths in his game - he has speed, he’s robust and he’s a goalscorer,'' said the German boss.

''First of all now is not the moment to discuss about the summer - it’s the moment for him to stay calm and keep on improving.''

But, tying the striker down to a new long-term contract should be a more urgent matter than it seems to be for Marina Granovskaia and the Chelsea hierarchy.

Why do Chelsea need Broja?

Armando Broja is far from the finished article but he has already shown signs of developing into a world-class striker, in the mould of Diego Costa.

As Tuchel mentioned, the 20-year-old's pace and power is impressive, as well as his goalscoring prowess.

However, the attribute that compares most to Costa is the aggressive, on-the-edge mentality that he appears to have.

And, that is something that is sorely missing from Chelsea's front line at the moment.

Romelu Lukaku is out of sorts and the likes of Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner and Kai Havertz are hardly combative individuals.

As such, Broja would make for a perfect backup forward next season, with the view to progressing into a starting role.

At worst, he is a like-for-like replacement for Lukaku and, at best, he is the next Diego Costa and another star that came through the academy system.

Consequently, if he is sold, it will be a transfer decision to regret for years to come.