Chelsea has to decide on Tammy Abraham and Armando Broja’s futures

Romelu Lukaku joining Chelsea has seemingly become a matter of when, not if. The Blues had pursued the Belgian initially in the window, but quickly turned to Erling Haaland when Lukaku announced his intention to stay. Fast forward a few months and the Blues have given up on Haaland while convincing Lukaku to change his mind. Regardless, the Blues are getting their man, even if it wasn’t the man for the entire window.

With Lukaku joining, that casts new light on strikers currently with the squad. Tammy Abraham has been expected to leave all window, yet remains. Armando Broja was expected to go on loan this season, but he stayed around and impressed all preseason. Now, both need their futures decided with Lukaku’s imminent arrival. Unless Kai Havertz and Timo Werner are taking completely out of the striker conversation, there is no room for Abraham and Broja next year.

Abraham’s situation is the more complicated. First of all is his transfer value. Abraham is, like it or not, a proven striker with 30 goals and 12 assists in 82 matches for Chelsea. There is certainly still a certain rawness to his play which is not ideal to say for a 23 year old, but by all indications, Abraham could go almost anywhere in the Premier League and succeed.

There are two main issues however. The first is how do you value a player that is still developing yet can contribute that much? An adjacent issue to that will be how much of that is down to the quality of his teammates (just look at Swansea versus Chelsea). The second issue is, once that valuation is found, who will be willing to pay it?

The names have changed throughout the window. West Ham and Aston Villa have been attached most heavily, but Danny Ings’ signing for Villa seems to close that door (while opening the Southampton one). There has also been an Arsenal rumor which, they could certainly afford Abraham, but that comes with a whole host of other issues too. Most recently, Atalanta have been attached to Abraham which seems a convenient way to wrap up the Lukaku saga more than anything else.

Abraham would almost certainly do well at any of these clubs in all honesty. Given the service, he scores or helps his teammates to do the same. While it would be understandable that he has a preference to remain in the Premier League and prove doubters wrong, it would be nice to see him follow Fikayo Tomori’s footsteps and head off to Italy. Atalanta is a solid team with clever tactics that create tons of chances. If Abraham is willing to test himself, he could turn into something special under Gian Piero Gasperini.

Broja’s situation is less complicated than Abraham’s, but it is far more important that the Blues get it right. Preseason only goes so far, but watching Broja it is clear that he is someone special if given the right chances. Those chances won’t be at Chelsea with Lukaku signing, so it is very important to get him the right loan to develop.

Chelsea has recently gone the Vitesse to the Championship route even when it doesn’t make the most sense. Broja does feel like he’s already outgrown the Championships level, but that doesn’t mean a Championship loan would be bad either. If he were loaned to a team more likely to be promoted than not, and then stayed there in a Premier League season, that could be a very valuable building block for him.

Chelsea could also just skip ahead and find a Premier League, Serie A, or Bundesliga team for the striker. Anywhere that he can develop pressing while getting enough chances (both to play and to score) would be a good destination. Much like Abraham can solve Southampton’s recent Ings’ vacancy, so to could Broja fill that spot. Playing at Brighton alongside Danny Welbeck as opposed to under him on the depth chart could be good too.

Bundesliga and Serie A wouldn’t be bad shouts either. In Germany, Broja will find a league that is hardly shy about playing young players. That would just be a matter of finding the right club to shine at. Serie A does have Udinese linked who are decent at pushing youth through but they don’t create a great many chances. Should Dusan Vlahovic end up leaving for Inter or elsewhere, Fiorentina could use another striker to fill his spot and they can’t afford to be too picky. Broja could go there and attempt to pick up where the Serbian would be leaving off.

More than anything else, it’s important Chelsea gets these moves right and settled. With Lukaku joining, neither Abraham nor Broja can find a place at Chelsea this coming season. For Abraham, he needs to go somewhere he can prove the Blues wrong just like Lukaku did before. Broja needs to find a place he can develop well enough to return and contribute, with or without Lukaku.