Stalling Chelsea attacker becomes Wolves loan target, as potential replacement speaks out on Aston Villa exit links
Armando Broja could leave Chelsea and Jhon Duran could join
A shake-up in the Chelsea striker department could see one of their players leave on loan for Wolves, while rumours of them bringing in an Aston Villa forward have drawn a response from the potential target himself.
For all the money Chelsea have spent in recent years, you would think they would have settled on some trustworthy options in attack. However, there are still major personnel issues in the final third for Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
A world-class centre-forward will still be on the top of their wish list in 2024. If they do invest in one, there could be uncertainty about some of their existing options.
For example, one of Chelsea’s current strikers who you get the sense is not quite good enough for what they are building towards is Armando Broja.
The academy graduate has shown his potential before on loan at Vitesse and Southampton, scoring 20 goals between those spells.
For his parent club, though, Broja – who has endured his fair share of injury issues – has only scored three goals from 36 appearances.
The Albania international started Chelsea’s most recent match, but did not complete the 1-0 win over Fulham.
Now, The Guardian has explained that Broja could be lured away from Stamford Bridge for a third loan spell of his career this month.
According to the report, Wolves are weighing up a bid for Broja, whom they could only afford to take on loan at this stage but could request an option to buy in the summer.
Wolves want to add to their attack while the January transfer window is open and Broja – along with West Ham’s Danny Ings – is now under consideration.
Broja leaving Chelsea would open up a vacancy in their attack, especially since summer signing Nicolas Jackson is currently representing Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations.
As stated, Chelsea want a high-pedigree striker to fill any void, but they have been considering short-term options too.
Karim Benzema or Roberto Firmino could come in from the Saudi Pro League – sources telling TEAMtalk the latter is more likely – but another suggestion has been to take Jhon Duran from Aston Villa on a short-term basis.
Aston Villa star responds to Chelsea links
Duran has been facing an uncertain future at Villa Park, where he is second in command to Ollie Watkins in the striker hierarchy.
Not only that, but there have been rumours of Duran not getting on too well with Aston Villa boss Unai Emery.
Emery himself has implied he has no issue with Duran, judging by recent comments in which he said: “He is playing. He has been important.
“He is young. He will need experiences and he is having his experience with us.
“We need another second striker or a striker because we have to try to be strong in our squad with different payers and more or less two players in one position. It’s Watkins and Duran.
“I am very happy with him. He is young, I am working with him a lot. He is progressively getting better and he is committed to getting progressively better.”
Now, Duran has given his own response to the rumours he could leave Aston Villa for Chelsea or AC Milan.
He told Win Sports in his native Colombia: “I remain focused on Aston Villa.
“I am not aware of interest from AC Milan or Chelsea.
“They are giant clubs, and it would be a pleasure. But I have no knowledge of anything.
“As a child you dream of playing there.”
The 20-year-old has scored four goals from 20 appearances so far this season, which makes it hard to judge if he would be an upgrade on Broja or not.
