This is the opportunity Armando Broja has been waiting for — one he knows he must take.
This week, Nicolas Jackson flew out to join up with the Senegal squad to prepare for their Africa Cup of Nations campaign. Should Senegal make it to the final on February 11 as they hope, and Chelsea beat Preston North End in Saturday’s FA Cup third-round tie, the forward could miss up to eight Chelsea games.
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In the Senegalese’s absence, Broja, 22, is the only recognised out-and-out No 9 in the Chelsea squad. Christopher Nkunku has made four appearances following a knee injury, but is not regarded as someone who leads the line. If anything, he prefers to play off players like Broja and Jackson.
This period should see head coach Mauricio Pochettino use Broja regularly, with the Albania international having played a bit-part role up to now.
After five months of the campaign, Broja has just five starts and another nine appearances as a substitute to his name. He has played 448 minutes of football (not including added time) and has yet to be given the chance to play a full match. The longest he has played in a single game is the 67 minutes he was given in the 2-0 loss at Everton last month. The only occasion he has started in successive games was at Fulham and Burnley back in October.
There are some understandable reasons this has happened. Broja ruptured the ACL in his right knee in December 2022 and it took until September for him to be deemed ready to play for the club again.
There were no warm-up fixtures with the under-21s or friendlies played behind closed doors. He was brought straight back into the senior setup, coming on as a substitute against Aston Villa. After such a long layoff, it is going to take time to regain match fitness. The absence of a full pre-season also placed him at a sizeable disadvantage — Broja did not go on Chelsea’s tour of the United States and, rather, continued to work on his own training programme at the club’s base in Cobham — as he sought to make an impact under Pochettino, who started as head coach in July.
Even with Chelsea’s well-documented injury issues, Pochettino has still had the opportunity to pick Jackson, Raheem Sterling, Cole Palmer and Mykhailo Mudryk in attack regularly. Jackson, who was signed from Villarreal for just over €35million (£30.2m; $38.3m) last summer, is the club’s joint-top scorer this season with eight goals, whereas Broja has found the net just once — against Fulham three months ago.
But Broja has not had the opportunity to get into a rhythm yet; to secure the run of games a player needs to return to their best. Strikers might suffer more than most in that regard, as their game relies on that instinctive sharpness in front of goal.
Broja has not been sulking or complaining behind the scenes. He understands the situation as he explained in an interview with The Secret Scout in November. “A lot of players will get frustrated by the lack of minutes they receive or getting enough game time,” he said. “I have come back from a big injury and I need to prove myself again to the manager, the staff, the club and the fans.
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“I’m really grateful to have the opportunity to impact games and come on and help the team.”
Broja did that late on against Manchester City when his feint to shoot, only to cut inside, fooled Ruben Dias. The centre-back’s foul earned Chelsea the penalty from which Cole Palmer salvaged a credible 4-4 draw. But Broja would only be human to want more action than this.
Chelsea are right to expect more end product from him, too.
Pochettino has offered plenty of encouragement in private and in public. When asked if Broja could be a top striker for Chelsea back in October, Pochettino replied: “Yes, Broja has amazing potential.
“Now it’s about how he recovers from this injury and the long period he was out. He is a very talented player. We trust him. He needs time, to feel complete. If not his body, in his mind also. It sometimes also affects your mind. He is in a very good mood, a very good way, working really hard and I hope he can improve in the next few weeks and be a player that we really trust.”
Unfortunately, a minor injury to his left knee at Burnley checked any momentum. But Pochettino has continued to give positive feedback, as does his assistant Jesus Perez, who speaks the most on a one-to-one basis with squad members.
With Chelsea’s tendency to sell homegrown players to help comply with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR), Broja’s future has been the source of much speculation even though, in the wake of bids from West Ham being rejected, he signed a new contract last year tying him to the club through to 2028. This week, there were reports he had been offered by Chelsea as part of a deal to sign Benfica defender Antonio Silva. The Athletic has been assured this is not the case.
Yet Chelsea are considering signing another striker this year, although their success could hinge on their ability to sell players to raise funds. In that context, the chatter around Broja will only continue. There are a host of clubs in England and abroad monitoring the situation who would love to sign him if he was made available.
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In the meantime, while Jackson is away, Broja has an opening to make the impact at Stamford Bridge he craves.
There is a huge two-legged Carabao Cup semi-final to be played against Championship club Middlesbrough, plus four Premier League games that, if won, could see Chelsea climb into one of the qualifying spots for European football next season for the first time. Broja has the added motivation of representing Albania at the European Championship this summer on his mind, too. Their head coach, former Arsenal left-back Sylvinho, has been in touch to offer encouragement.
Yet Chelsea is his main focus. If nothing else, he will learn over the next few weeks just how much faith Pochettino has truly pinned on him.
(Top photo: Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
