Chelsea’s in-house Erling Haaland alternatives, part four: The kid

Chelsea wants Erling Haaland but that seems to be a lost cause. Dortmund don’t want to sell and the Blues don’t seem willing to play the cat and mouse game with them all summer. The club will still need a striker that can consistently score next year regardless and the longer they chase Haaland, the more they’ll miss out on.

Unless they look for in house alternatives that is. Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, and Tammy Abraham all seem like the most likely suspects. But in this final part of the series, let’s take a look at the dark horse candidate returning from loan: Armando Broja.

Why could Armando Broja be an alternative?

At 19, Broja is returning from his first professional season on loan at Vitesse. Following in Mason Mount’s footsteps, he was a standout player in his first full season scoring 11 goals in 34 appearances and assisting another three. The threshold for most strikers to be “good” in a league is about one goal in three and to hit that in his first ever season is fantastic.

Watching him play, he offers a little bit of everything. He’s big and able to hold opponents off the ball. He also likes to make runs in behind, something uncharacteristic for his size. He’s also rather unselfish. If he doesn’t have a great chance on goal, he’ll pass it to someone that has a better chance every time. Though young, he shows all the traits of a “modern” striker that managers love.

Furthermore, he’s supposedly been one of the star performers of preseason thus far. Preseason up to this point has been about proving yourself among a bunch of loan players returning and youth players and for Broja to stand above is a fantastic sign for his future. It may be a case of him or Tammy Abraham staying, but if it is Broja, he has a large skill set for Thomas Tuchel to mold into a star.

Why Broja might not be an alternative?

The Eredivisie is not the Premier League. Look no further than Hakim Ziyech’s struggles throughout the season to see how much of an adjustment it can be. It’s a league that’s great to send players to that need a boost in technique and the finer points of the game, but it simply lacks the physicality and the speed of the Premier League.

That’s probably why when a player is loaned to Vitesse these days, it is often followed by a loan to the Championship. Say what you will about the quality of the Championship, but it’s much easier for the club to see the quality of a player in the same pyramid and make a judgement. Broja, for all his talent, is still missing that step in his career.

Tied to that and perhaps even more important is playing time. Broja, like most of the Chelsea academy stars, can become a star in the men’s game. That requires playing time and, more importantly than anything else, a chance. Players like Mason Mount and Reece James may have gotten their chances early at Chelsea but the same situation doesn’t exist now for Broja. If he were to stay, he would have to play a lot to continue his development. Cup games wouldn’t be enough. And if that’s the case, then for his own good and the club’s own good, he needs that loan where he can play and develop.

Broja could be the secret weapon in Tuchel’s arsenal, but that only matters if he gets a fair shake. If it doesn’t look like he’ll get 20+ games, then a loan is the only real option the club has so as not to ruin another super star young player in the making.

Let us know what you think on Twitter and in the comments and stay tuned for the next three parts of this series!