Chelsea not looking to send Armando Broja away on loan — report

Armando Broja turned up at Cobham a couple weeks early this summer, hoping to get a head start on his final rehabilitation steps in his recovery from ACL surgery six months prior, and make a good first impression on the new head coach. Things must not have gone as well as he had hoped however, as a month later, he was not on the plane with the rest of the squad traveling to the USA for the preseason tour.

And while he’s rejoined first-team training since our return from the States, his immediate future at the club has remained in question. He was not in the matchday squad on Sunday either, for example, with fellow Academy youngster Mason Burstow taking his place once again (just as he had during the US Tour).

But according to report today from the Evening Standard, we have no plans to send Broja away, not even on a rehab loan (as we had done in the cases of Kurt Zouma and Ruben Loftus-Cheek in years past). That’s in response to an inquiry that AC Milan had made, who apparently haven’t gotten their fill of Chelsea players to build their squad.

Assuming we sign no new forwards in the remaining few weeks of the window, keeping Broja as the backup to Nicolas Jackson is a solid, if a bit risky plan. Jackson has made a fantastic first impression, but we don’t know how consistent or injury-resistant he may be. With Christopher Nkunku out for half the season, relying entirely on Broja’s unknown fitness levels as the backup could come back to bite us — unless of course Broja hits the ground running when he’s called upon, and starts living up to his potential straight away.