Chelsea plan to block rival side’s move for Blues attacker to deal crushing double blow

Chelsea will reportedly block any attempt from Fulham to sign Armando Broja, dealing them a second blow after they dropped out of the race to sign Serhou Guirassy to go after him.

The Blues are blessed with a number of talented attackers in their squad. The best of the bunch at the moment are the likes of Cole Palmer and Raheem Sterling.

The pair make up just a small percentage of the attacking tools available to Mauricio Pochettino, though. Indeed, in the first-team squad, there are eight players that would be considered attackers.

That’s not to mention Angelo and Diego Moreira, who were both signed in the summer but not currently in the squad.

Given the sheer number of attacking players at his disposal, Pochettino is not able to give them all the minutes they likely want.

Indeed, Broja has appeared for just 167 minutes in all competitions this season. While he’s just come back from a long layoff due to an ACL injury, he was back in action by August, before complications sidelined him for another few games.

Still, he’s scored once and assisted once in the short time he’s been given on the pitch, and may well believe he’s worthy of more opportunities.

He could have a chance to get them away from Stamford Bridge, given local rivals Fulham have registered an interest in him.

Chelsea to block Broja move

They reportedly believe the Albania international is a ‘realistic’ target.

However, that report suggested Chelsea would have to land themselves a new striker before letting Broja go.

The Blues aren’t going to let him go at all, according to a fresh Football Insider report.

Indeed, it’s stated Broja is ‘not likely to leave’ his club in January ‘with any potential deal to be blocked’ by the Blues.

The report states that’s because Chelsea are ‘unlikely’ to sign a new striker in the New Year.

Double blow for Fulham

Missing out on Broja is the second part of a double blow for Fulham.

Indeed, they were keen on Stuttgart striker Guirassy, but dropped out of the race as they felt the Chelsea man was a more attainable target.

While that’s not to say they dropped out simply to go after the 22-year-old, it’s not ideal that they’ve been immediately shut down in their attempts to go after their second option.

It remains to be seen if they’ll shift their attention yet again.

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