Armando Broja has admitted he thought there were times he could have been utilised more by Chelsea last season.
Broja, who has been at Chelsea since the age of eight, and has risen through the ranks at Cobham to the first team endured a difficult campaign as he fought his way back to fitness following a serious knee injury suffered during the break for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The Albania striker failed to impress in the first part of the season under Pochettino, and was sent on loan to neighbours Fulham in January but didn’t fare much better as he played just 82 minutes.
Broja felt he should have been used more by Chelsea
The 22-year-old returned to action against Aston Villa in September, ironically the same team he suffered his injury against.
Broja then started his first game of the season against Fulham in October and scored the second goal in the 2-0 win for the Blues.
The striker went on to make a further seven starts under Mauricio Pochettino, but speculation began to build around his future in January.
Broja had been linked with a move away, but Chelsea’s reported £50m valuation put off potential suitors, and he’s now admitted he wanted a bit of reassurance from the club, and that he expected to start more games in the absence of Nicolas Jackson who went to the Africa Cup of Nations.
“I did think when Nicolas Jackson went away with Senegal to the Africa Cup of Nations, that I would be given an opportunity to play a load of games,” Broja told The Athletic.
“I started three times in January, but I thought there were times I could have been utilised more, I got the feeling people expected me to just run past three, four players and put it in the bottom corner.
“But I was fighting to get my fitness and things were going through my head like, ‘What will happen to me in January?’.”
“There was a lot of speculation around me at the time, whether I would go on loan, I just wanted answers from the club, a bit of reassurance, and I didn’t get that.
“In the end, I decided to go on loan because I wanted to get more minutes, I thought it was the perfect time where I could play football continuously for four months up until the Euros.”
It appears Broja’s days at Chelsea are numbered and he’s expected to be one of a number of players who leaves Stamford Bridge this summer, with the likes of Wolves, Monaco and Bologna all interested.
