West Ham ‘really close’ to Armando Broja transfer from Chelsea after £30m bid — reports

Armando Broja has left Chelsea training camp just a few days after arriving, flying back to England, ostensibly to rehab his minor foot injury but in actual reality to finalize his move to West Ham United. Everton and Newcastle United were (and still are) said to be interested as well, but it’s looking like it’s full stop hammer time for the 20-year-old.

And while that move was expected (last week) to be a loan, it’s now looking like it will be a permanent transfer, with perhaps some future considerations that may or may not involve some sort of buyback.

According to reports from the Guardian, Fabrizio Romano, Ben Jacobs, and many others, West Ham have made an “improved” £30m bid plus add-ons (up £5m from Friday), and are “really close” having already agreed personal terms with the player. Some reports disagree on the latter part, but that’s unlikely to be much more than a formality if the two teams are able to agree terms.

Broja quite clearly doesn’t want the Loan Army life for himself anymore after temporary assignments at Vitesse and Southampton over the last two years (with 20 goals scored altogether), and unfortunately it doesn’t look like he has any first-team prospects for us right now.

So that’s rather unfortunate, though a favorable buyback would make this deal easier to swallow.