As we near the closing days of the transfer window, Chelsea’s academy hopefuls are beginning to secure their loan moves away from Stamford Bridge for the upcoming season with the hope of regular minutes.
Following Conor Gallagher’s season long-loan to Crystal Palace, football.london understands Chelsea are in advanced talks with Southampton over a season-long loan move for young striker Armando Broja.
After impressing Thomas Tuchel in pre-season and penning a five-year deal securing his future with the Blues, a loan feels like the most sensible option at the current moment for the 19-year-old.
Chelsea are close to securing the return of Romelu Lukaku for a club-record fee and have a plethora of attacking options to choose from beyond that. It is hard to see Broja finding regular minutes in a squad looking to seriously challenge Manchester City for a Premier League title.
After netting 10 times for Vitesse Arnhem in the Eredivisie last term, the Albanian is ready to take the next step. Joining Ralph Hassenhuttl’s Saints certainly feels like a big one for the young forward. Broja would be joining a familiar face in former Academy peer Tino Livramento, who signed for the club permanently last week.
The highly-rated wing-back has already made an impression following his impact in Southampton’s friendly against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday at St.Mary’s. Livramento came off the bench and very quickly set up new teammate Theo Walcott with a brilliant lob over the Bilbao defence to finish.
Hassenhuttl’s admiration for Chelsea’s Young Player of The Season was clear when Livramento gave quotes to his new club shortly after arriving.
“The manager was quite a big factor as to why I wanted to come here, the passion that he shows, I just can’t wait to get started," he said. "He wanted to tell me a lot, he wants to tell me a lot about how he wants me to come in and train, how he wants me to play, what he wants me to bring to the team.
“That was really attractive to me to see him expressing those emotions. Showing how he sees me playing in a Premier League team, which is really big for me being 18 – it was a really good conversation."
The ability to persuade Livramento to leave Chelsea shows the intent Hassenhuttl has to make him a valued part of his plans this season, despite not playing a minute of Premier League football for Chelsea.
This could be a similar situation with Broja, as the Saints attempt to replace the goals of Danny Ings, who was sold to Aston Villa last week.
To be able to gain regular Premier League football would be a major step in Broja’s development, a bit like the jumps in age groups he had at Chelsea’s Academy as he grew into a standout prospect. The plan for Broja at Chelsea was for him to be the main centre-forward for the development squad last season. He had a season in the U18’s, scoring just two goals in 2018/19. The next season Broja started in the U18s, halfway through 2019/20 the forward improved his output enough to jump up to the development squad. Netting 16 goals for the U18s in 15 appearances.
Broja throughout his young career has already shown he can adapt quickly to new challenges which is what Thomas Tuchel and Chelsea will be hoping he can do at Southampton.
The loan to Vitesse last season saw him make 34 appearances and his first proper taste of senior football. It is imperative a player of his age does not stall and keeps picking up the regular minutes to further craft his game and eventually return to Chelsea a more experienced forward.
There might be a slight concern this move to a Premier League outfit might cause him to miss out on those desired minutes, given the rise in quality and pressure for results. Tammy Abraham found success in earlier loans in the Championship with Bristol City and Aston Villa. Wedged between those two good loans was a year in the top division with Swansea City who got relegated.
Broja’s path may also be blocked by Southampton’s pursuit of Blackburn’s Adam Armstrong, which appears to be an imminent deal. Along with Che Adams, Broja will face stiff competition to be the regular choice as Southampton hope to avoid a relegation battle after Ings' sudden departure.
Abraham, Mason Mount, Reece James and Fikayo Tomori all fared well in the second tier before returning to Cobham with substantial experience.
The Championship provides a stern test of intense senior football over a 46-game season but may have allowed Broja an easier route to sustained minutes, time will tell once his season on the south coast begins whether this was the right move.
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