Arsenal have been linked with Chelsea forward Armando Broja ahead of the summer transfer window, with the 20-year-old impressing on loan at Southampton this season.
Broja joined the Saints for the duration of the 2021/22 campaign back in August and has scored six Premier League goals in that time. He has established himself as a regular starter since the beginning of December and has already been linked with a permanent move to St Mary’s.
Arsenal let Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leave the club in January, while Alexandre Lacazette is on course to be a free agent at the end of the season – 90min understands the Gunners will not offer the Frenchman a new contract.
It means that Arsenal, having failed to land a new forward last month when Dusan Vlahovic chose to join Juventus instead, are in need of fresh options. It has been reported by football.london that they are ‘monitoring’ Broja as part of summer plans to strengthen various parts of the squad.
There have also been suggestions that fan favourite Gabriel Martinelli could be repurposed as a central striker following recent training sessions operating as a ‘number nine’.
The Gunners also had the chance to move for Paris Saint-Germain's Mauro Icardi in the January transfer window, but The Athletic note that those in charge at the Emirates opted against such a deal as they were adamant they wanted a younger striker like Vlahovic or Broja.
Broja has been valued at £25m when being linked with a permanent move to Southampton. But while Arsenal and Chelsea are rivals, it isn’t unknown for players to move directly between them.
Broja was born in Berkshire and joined Chelsea in 2009 after a brief stint with Tottenham’s academy, but is already a full international with Albania by virtue of his parents’ nationality. He was first selected for Albania’s junior sides in 2019 and has never been capped by England at any level.
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Source : 90min