Chelsea agree Deadline Day deal with Premier League rivals

James Shearman

• Updated: 1 Feb 2024 19:15 GMT
• 3 min read

Chelsea have agreed to send Armando Broja on loan to Fulham for the remainder of the 2023-24 season.

The Blues initially wanted to sell Broja for a fee in the region of £50 million, though no team came close to matching their asking price.

The striker then became available for £35m, and they still failed to receive any offers that met their valuation.

Eventually, it was accepted that he would leave on loan, with Wolves and AC Milan among the teams interested in his services.

However, Chelsea’s west London rivals Fulham have won the race for his signature, and they will pay a loan fee of up to £4m, according to multiple reports.

Broja's Chelsea career over?

Broja was never expected to be Chelsea's starting striker, but he was supposed to be a part of the first team squad for the foreseeable future.

Having come through the club's academy, he went on loan to Eredivisie club Vitesse, as many Cobham graduates do.

He scored a respectable 11 goals in 34 games and earned a move to then-Premier League side Southampton in 2021-22.

He scored nine times in his debut Premier League campaign, suggesting that he would develop into a fine player at this level.

However, having been kept with the senior team last season, he suffered an ACL injury, which kept him out for almost a year.

This injury stopped him in his tracks and he has not been the same player since, almost certainly scuppering his chances of making it as a first team regular at Stamford Bridge.