Could Broja leave Chelsea for Arsenal next season?
The summer transfer window may be a number of months away but it seems as though England’s biggest clubs are already preparing for a busy transfer window.
Arsenal, in particular, are desperate to make up for lost ground in the January window and have already drawn up plans to land a competent goal scorer before next season.
According to FootballLondon, the club have the ambitious goal of landing 20-year-old Chelsea prospect Armando Broja at the end of this current league campaign.
The Albania forward has spent this season on loan at Southampton, where he has impressed with no less than eight goals in 24 appearances for the club. And a goals per 90 average that is already better than Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner’s.
5 - Armando Broja is the youngest player to have scored 5+ goals in the Premier League this season (20y 123d), and one of only two under-21's to do so, along with Bukayo Saka (6). Emergence. pic.twitter.com/TCr6wKhaAC
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 11, 2022
Could Chelsea sell Broja?
Since making his way through Chelsea’s youth sides, Broja has impressed on loan at Vitesse and now Southampton, but has yet to stake a claim for one of the club’s first team spots.
As is often the case at the Stamford Bridge side, talented young players develop tremendously well at Chelsea but often struggle to jump the chasm into the first team. And usually find more success by moving elsewhere.
Like Kevin de Bruyne, Mohamed Salah or Tammy Abraham, Broja and Chelsea may decide to go separate ways this summer, with reports from earlier in the year suggesting that Southampton would only have to pay £20 million to sign the young striker this summer. Borja is currently valued at €9 million.
If Arsenal are indeed interested in signing the Albania international, they could comfortably afford such a fee, even if it did come with some interesting clauses.
Goal scorer™️
✨ @armandobroja9 pic.twitter.com/JRILwPiAeT— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) January 12, 2022
Could he join Arsenal?
However, it’s one thing for Chelsea to sell a youngster to Southampton and another thing entirely to let him leave for Arsenal.
The Gunners, unlike their south coast equivalents, are a direct rival to Chelsea for a top four spot and a young, ambitious goal scorer like Broja may be the one thing Mikel Arteta’s side need to push on the English top flight.
There’s also the player’s own desires to take into account too. With Lukaku and Werner both floundering in Thomas Tuchel’s team this season, Broja could certainly fancy his chances of breaking into the Chelsea first team next season as the club’s only proven goal scorer.
As such, a move to Arsenal doesn’t make a huge amount of sense at this moment in time. Even if it would perhaps be a perfect move for the striker.