Armando Broja has revealed why he snubbed a future at Tottenham Hotpsur as a child and, instead, chose to sign for London rivals Chelsea. The 21-year-old striker joined the Blues academy as an under-nine and, after recently penning a new six-year deal at Stamford Bridge, he's extended his stay until 2028.
In an interview with The Players' Tribune, Broja detailed how he caught the attention of the north London side at a tournament but was initially hesitant about joining the club. The Albania international said: "I remember going to a tournament. The Tottenham scout actually came to watch another boy.
"I happened obviously to play well that tournament and I got top goalscorer and I got best player at the tournament so they approached my Mum and Dad before I even knew about it. So, when I came back my Mum and Dad said, 'Tottenham came over to us' and I was thinking, 'who's Tottenham?'"
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"Because I was quite young, I didn't really know anything apart from my Sunday league team," Broja added. "So in my head it was just Burnham Juniors - that's all I knew!
"So, they were like 'Oh Tottenham is in the Premier League, this, this, this, this and I was like, 'Oh wow'. I said, 'I wanna go, I wanna go, I wanna go'.
"And they were like, 'We're obviously speaking to them'. But I was so happy because I thought, 'Wow, I'm going to play for a big team.'"
Broja continued by explaining why he grew to become a Chelsea fan and how landing a move to Tottenham fuelled his desire to fulfil his dream to join his childhood club. He said: "My mum's first cousin, he's a massive Chelsea fan.
"He would take me to every Chelsea game when I was like three or four so I always supported Chelsea," the Cobham graduate added. "He loves Chelsea so in my head I just supported Chelsea, but I didn't know the rivalry between Tottenham, Chelsea so when I did join Tottenham I didn't know what it was going to be like.
"In my head when I was at Tottenham, I supported them [Chelsea], but I always wanted to beat them because I wanted to show the Chelsea staff and everyone there that I want to join Chelsea. I was on the bench and then I was begging my manager to come on, 'Please let me, we're losing two-nil.'
"As soon as I came on, I got an assist and then I got a goal after that so we drew two-two. And then we moved over to the other side of the pitch and played the other team. We won twelve-nil I think, and I scored nine. Straight after that, the two Chelsea guys came over and said 'Wow, we want you'.
"When they said that I didn't think of anything else, I just wanted to join Chelsea. So eventually that obviously did happen and joined Chelsea end of under nines, start of under tens so I've been there since then."
Despite Broja yet to start for Chelsea this season, he's poised to play a major role in the Blues' success. And, with Graham Potter in the dugout, the Albanian is set to take his game to the next level.
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