- Armando Broja will be signed on a season-long loan with an obligation to buy
- The 22-year-old forward is set to undergo a medical at Portman Road tomorrow
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Chelsea striker Armando Broja is close to finalising his move to Ipswich Town.
The deal is for a season-long loan and is expected to include an option to buy worth in the region of £30m This would become an obligation if Ipswich were to avoid Premier League relegation.
The 22-year-old is expected to undergo a medical with Ipswich tomorrow. Chelsea, who have signed Joao Felix for £44.5m from Atletico Madrid, plan to add another striker with Napoli’s Victor Osimhen on their wish list.
At Ipswich, Broja offers manager Kieran McKenna added depth up-front.
He’d play alongside Liam Delap, George Hirst (who’s out injured until October with a knee injury), Ali Al-Hamadi, and Freddie Ladapo.
Armando Broja is set to sign for Ipswich Town on loan, with a medical pencilled in tomorrow
The deal for the Chelsea striker carriers an obligation to buy – if Town beat the drop this season
Armando Broja will present another attacking option for Town manager, Kieran McKenna
Ladapo looks set to leave the club this summer, so a loan move offers Broja the chance to solidify a first-team position within a Premier League team that’s eluded him so far.
The Albanian has struggled to cement any such position since emerging from Chelsea’s academy in 2020. He’s scored just two goals from 11 starts and 27 appearances for the Blues, with much of his time in the men’s senior squad curtailed by an ACL injury.
He has had loan spells at Eredivise side Vitesse, and in the Premier League with Southampton and Fulham – the Cottagers being where he spent the latter half of last season.
He made just eight substitute appearances at Fulham, however, thanks in no small part to the form of Rodrigo Muniz.
And after featuring for Albania in the group stages of Euro 2024, the 22-year-old may yet be completely displaced from Maresca’s first-team squad, after Pedro Neto took his No 19 squad number after joining from…