Star leaving Chelsea opens up on transfer that 'sucked'

Tom Weber

Updated: 5 Jun 2024 17:15 BST
3 min read

Armando Broja has admitted that his move to Fulham 'sucked.'

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The Chelsea academy product is on his way out of Stamford Bridge this summer after failing to show much promise in the bygone season. Having returned from a lengthy ACL injury in late 2023, Broja initially featured under Mauricio Pochettino.

However, after some unimpressive showings, the Albanian's game time diminished drastically and he was eventually shipped out on loan to local rivals Fulham.

His fortunes did not improve at Craven Cottage, however. Broja played just eight times for the west London side and the Cottagers decided against making his move permanent.

In fact, such was Broja's ineffectiveness at Fulham that they thought it better to pay Chelsea a sizeable sum of several million euros rather than giving the striker regular minutes, which would have seen the Blues waive the loan fee.

Broja on Fulham disaster

Following his return to Stamford Bridge, Broja is expected to be offloaded permanently this summer. Speaking to The Athletic about his future, the Albanian revealed that he was sold a dream by Fulham boss Marco Silva.

“There was a lot of speculation around me at the time [January], whether I would go on loan. I just wanted answers from the club, a bit of reassurance, and I didn’t get that. In the end, I decided to go on loan because I wanted to get more minutes."

"I thought it was the perfect time where I could play football continuously for four months up until the Euros. Marco Silva desperately wanted me to join. He was telling me I would play games, that I would get an opportunity to start and get as many minutes as possible.

“All thoughts go through your head: ‘I have wasted four months of my career just sitting around training’, ‘I could have been at Chelsea for four months and played more.’ It did suck but that’s football. You have to move on and I count it as another lesson learned.”

“Nothing has been decided yet [on my future], but if I need to go somewhere else to get back in my groove, then of course I would want to do that."

"As a player, there is no better feeling than being on the pitch and knowing you have a club and a team who defends you; a club who allow you to make mistakes because they know you will become something."