West Ham United eyeing Armando Broja — report

Eight months removed from ACL replacement surgery, young Chelsea striker Armando Broja is undoubtedly looking forward to completing his recovery and getting his promising career back on track. He even showed up early this summer, to get a head start on preseason and make a good first impression on new head coach Mauricio Pochettino.

But evidently those first few weeks and the associated recovery had not gone as ideally as he might have hoped, as he was not selected to be part of our summer tour. And while he’s now back training with the first-team following our return from the USA, it seems unlikely that he would stick around for the season.

Armed with a long-term contract, his future seems fairly assured, but that might also depend on what we do in the transfer market. We already signed two goal-getters this summer, Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku — both of whom have impressed — and, despite Pochettino’s reservations, we remain linked with Dušan Vlahović as collateral damage from the Lukaku situation.

It’s perhaps that uncertainty that’s prompted West Ham United to keep an eye on things, especially after reportedly agreeing to end their ties with Gianluca Scamacca after just a single season. According to The Guardian, West Ham “could move” for Broja, which isn’t exactly iron-clad but it does put the idea out there. It’s not specified whether the Hammers would move in a temporary loan or permanent transfer capacity; it’s not like they’re lacking for funds!

West Ham have also been linked with ex-Chelsea striker Dominic Solanke, but their fans are certainly getting restless with their lack of action in the market — they’ve signed a grand total of zero first-team players despite collecting over £100m in transfer revenue (most of it by way of Declan Rice’s move to Arsenal).

Hopefully we’re not considering anything more drastic than a loan for Broja (and neither is he himself).