West Ham United had approach turned down for Armando Broja this summer- Fabrizio Romano
West Ham United were joined by AC Milan in having a verbal approach for Armando Broja rejected by Chelsea this summer, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The transfer specialist wrote in his Daily Briefing (25 September) that the Hammers were one of three clubs who were interested in signing the Blues forward this summer, as David Moyes looked to strengthen his striking options ahead of the new season.
But the Blues decided to turn down all approaches for the 22-year-old who is considered a bright talent for the future at Stamford Bridge and Broja made his long-awaited return from injury to appear from the bench in Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa on Sunday (24 September).
Explaining the deal, Romano said: “There were verbal approaches from AC Milan, West Ham and one more club this summer for Broja. But Chelsea decided not to entertain those proposals as they wanted to trust Armando, with the board and Pochettino on the same page.”
Ultimately Moyes was unable to sign a new forward this summer, despite holding an interest in a number of different options including Santiago Giminez [Toby Cudworth, 1 September] and Yuri Alberto [Team Talk, 30 August].
Disappointing
It would have been an excellent piece of business had West Ham managed to bring Broja to the London Stadium this summer, after all, he showed during his time on loan with Southampton he is capable of being an incredibly impactful striker in the Premier League.
But given the financial power of Chelsea currently, it would have been an incredibly expensive deal to pull off for the Irons and as soon as it was decided he’d remain at Stamford Bridge, it was unlikely Moyes or anyone would be able to change Todd Boehly or Mauricio Pochettino’s mind.
The Hammers have been left short of forward options this season however, with Michail Antonio and Danny Ings the only two recognised senior strikers and West Ham have been fortunate that Jarred Bowen’s excellent start to the season has papered over the cracks in attack.
Broja is unlikely to be available in January given Chelsea’s poor start to the season without the Albanian forward, so it looks like Moyes will have to look elsewhere for a new forward when the window opens once again, but the Irons need to add to their attacking ranks in January.
In other West Ham news, Moyes has shared his thoughts on Jesse Lingard’s move to Saudi Arabia