Chelsea’s academy has become one of the world’s best over the last few decades. Building a world class developmental site was one of the first things Roman Abramovich set out to achieve when he took over the club in the early 2000s. His efforts have now undoubtedly paid off as the Blues consistently vie for some of football’s highest honors. They became Club World Cup Champions just a few days ago as one of Cobham’s finest, Callum Hudson-Odoi, delivered the go-ahead assist against Palmeiras. Chelsea reached that tournament thanks to another academy graduate, Mason Mount, and his assist in the Champions League final.
There are now professionals spread all across the world who came up through the Blues’ ranks. The Premier League still houses some of the finest young players in Chelsea’s talent ladder, namely Armando Broja and Conor Gallagher. When Broja made his debut against Everton in March of 2020, few were familiar with the young striker, that includes Blues supporters. He’s quickly become a household name in the Premier League following an excellent first couple months of his season-long loan at Southampton. Now, this rapid ascension to the top of English football has seen Broja’s suitors line up ahead of his return to his parent club in the summer. The growing interest in the forward is exactly why Chelsea should turn other clubs away immediately.
Chelsea striker Armando Broja is getting a lot of interest from other clubs around Europe, which shows the Blues exactly why they should hang on to him
It began with Southampton showing an interest in keeping Broja beyond this season. The Blues have negotiated longer loan moves and even a few sales of young players recently, so it was worth it for Saints to ask. They were met with an uninterested response but it wasn’t a definitive no from the reigning European Champions. Therefore, the hope remains for Southampton as Chelsea has put any discussions about Broja’s future on hold until the summer.
The 20-year-old been a key part of the reason why Saints have remained afloat (10th in the Premier League table), despite the loss of talisman Danny Ings to Aston Villa. Broja has made 24 appearances across all competitions, scoring eight goals and adding an assist during those 1,500 minutes. Perhaps the most impressive part of those numbers is the fact that seven of his goal contributions have come in the English top flight. This is only his second full season of professional football as it stands, his first in any of Europe’s top five leagues.
As the Albanian continues to move up Southampton’s scoring charts, he’s getting noticed by some of Europe’s elite. Teams like Arsenal and Bayern Munich have begun to display a concrete interest in signing Broja in the coming months as their searches for their next generational strikers begin. It’s the approach made by the German giants in particular that is especially telling. Any time Bayern Munich comes knocking for a player, it’s almost guaranteed that he will turn into a star. The Bavarians have been so successful at spotting young talent before it fully develops over the years, Chelsea is no stranger to their advances either. The Blues turned down a number of bids for Hudson-Odoi in the past few seasons. In addition, former Chelsea attacking midfielder Jamal Musiala has already made 65 appearances for Bayern Munich’s first team . . . at the age of just 18.
The Blues have jumped the gun by selling a number of incredible young players over the last few years and have come to regret their decisions almost immediately. The most recent example is Fikayo Tomori, who has gone on to excel at AC Milan. The centerback has even been linked to a move back to Stamford Bridge recently, which tells fans everything they need to know about how good he’s been during his time in Italy. Chelsea doesn’t want to make the same mistake once again, especially with a young striker. Romelu Lukaku is living proof that this can be a costly error.
The Belgian’s arrival cannot be allowed to inhibit Broja’s development either. Thomas Tuchel’s side has struggled up top recently and it’s hard to argue the Southampton loanee could do any harm. The Blues need to remind themselves why they signed Broja to a five-year deal in the offseason and allow the young No. 9 to remain with the first team from this summer forward. If Chelsea decides to cash in on the striker prospect now, it’ll be another example of poor decision making from the board in a few years when he’s thriving for one of the continent’s most successful clubs.
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