At long last, Armando Broja has a new home and he’ll make the short trip to Chelsea’s west London rivals Fulham for the remainder of this season after the two clubs negotiated a £4m loan fee for his services – beating interest from others, including a surprise late swoop by one particular Italian giant.
New beginnings: Broja bound for the Cottagers
- Fulham complete Armando Broja capture on loan deal, as they look to bolster their attacking options after netting just 28 goals in 22 games
- ESPN sources claim the loan fee will drop from £4m to free, should the 22-year-old make ten Premier League starts for Marco Silva’s Fulham side
- Broja is excited at the prospect of what’s next, telling ffctv: “It feels amazing, I’m really happy to be here and can’t wait to get started, meet the players, manager and play for the fans. The fans always play a big role, I can’t wait to go to Craven Cottage, meet them all, I’m going to work hard for the team and create a real bond – I’m honoured and excited.”
- Wolves and West Ham were among top-flight clubs interested, while financial constraints saw Milan fail in late approach for a loan-to-buy offer
They needed a deal sheet to do so, but Fulham will be thankful they didn’t suffer the same fate as West Ham and many other clubs with last-minute deals on transfer deadline day, negotiating with Chelsea before eventually securing the services of their attacking academy graduate Armando Broja on-loan until the season’s end.
As I wrote on Monday, the Albanian international’s future was a topic of conversation that needed to be settled this week after the Blues’ £50m valuation for a promising centre-forward lacking confidence was deemed far too ambitious for a host of interested suitors to even consider negotiating beyond a short-term solution.
Broja has insisted he – like many others – wants to stay and fight for his place at Stamford Bridge long-term, but has privately accepted a run of first-team minutes will do him the world of good given he’s played sparingly at best so far this term.
Chelsea dropped their demands on deadline day morning provided they received a £5m loan fee, though Fulham have done well to whittle that down further and won’t pay at all should he make ten domestic starts. It’s an achievable goal should he stay fit, in a Fulham team devoid of regular goals since Aleksandar Mitrovic’s Saudi switch.
Broja’s lone league goal this season came away at Craven Cottage in early October, on his first start back after successfully recovering from a cruciate ligament tear that kept him sidelined for nine months. Staying fit is a necessity for him, given the considerable chunks of time he’s missed at a crucial stage of his development.
He scored six goals in 32 appearances on-loan for Southampton during the 2021-22 campaign, though went goalless in his final 13 matches – where they collectively only picked up 12 points. Fulham will hope his presence can lift them out of a creative funk, where £5.5m summer signing Raul Jimenez (5) is their current top goalscorer.
Pictures and quotes via Fulham’s official website
Mo and Sports 