Chelsea’s late summer clear-out looks set to continue with the departure of Armando Broja, who is set to join Ipswich on an initial loan deal.
The Albanian striker is one of a number of players now deemed surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge as the Blues move to cut a mammoth first-team squad that has ballooned to more than 40 players during another busy summer in the transfer market that is set to continue with the £42million arrival of Joao Felix from Atletico Madrid, with Conor Gallagher heading the other way for £33m.
Raheem Sterling’s Chelsea future is also subject to significant doubt, while Broja has joined Trevoh Chalobah, Ben Chilwell, Djordje Petrovic, Carney Chukwuemeka, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Romelu Lukaku, Cesare Casadei, David Datro Fofana, Angelo Gabriel and Tino Anjorin in being put up for sale ahead of next week’s deadline.
Chelsea have already offloaded Ian Maatsen, Lewis Hall, Omari Hutchinson, Diego Moreira, Hakim Ziyech, Malang Sarr and Thiago Silva so far this summer, loaning out the likes of Lesley Ugochukwu, Alfie Gilchrist, Gabriel Slonina and Eddie Beach plus new signings Aaron Anselmino and Caleb Wiley, who joined the club along with Pedro Neto, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Filip Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Marc Guiu, Renato Veiga and Omari Kellyman.
Chelsea are still on the lookout for another striker in addition to Felix before the window shuts, amid ongoing interest in Napoli frontman Victor Osimhen.
There appears to be no future at Stamford Bridge for Broja, who Standard Sport understands is poised to undergo a medical at Ipswich after agreeing a season-long loan deal with the newly-promoted Premier League club.
Such a move is expected to include an obligation to buy priced at around £30m, per Fabrizio Romano, to be activated if Kieran McKenna’s Tractor Boys manage to secure top-flight survival after back-to-back promotions ended their 22-year Premier League exile.
The England-born Broja came through the academy system at Chelsea after joining their Under-9s in 2009 after a spell at Tottenham, sent out for loan spells at Vitesse Arnhem and Southampton in addition to scoring three goals in 38 senior appearances for the Blues following his debut in March 2020.
The 22-year-old has never managed to hold down a regular place in Chelsea’s plans however, rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in a mid-season friendly in Abu Dhabi in 2022, and was loaned to west London rivals Fulham for the second half of last season, failing to score at all in eight appearances after the Cottagers had initially tried to sign him on a permanent basis last summer as a replacement for Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Fulham ended up having to pay Chelsea £4m for the loan after he failed to start 10 matches under Marco Silva.
Broja - who has scored five goals in 23 senior international caps for Albania and started two of their matches at Euro 2024 earlier this summer - will hope to reignite his career at Ipswich, where he will reunite with another former Chelsea youngster in Hutchinson who completed a £20m permanent switch last month following a successful loan spell in Suffolk.
Ipswich continue to push hard for new signings in a bid to retain their Premier League status, having last week loaned England midfielder Kalvin Phillips from Manchester City and also spent £9m plus add-ons to land last season’s Championship top scorer Sammie Szmodics from Blackburn.
They have also loaned Sweden midfielder Jens Cajuste from Napoli this week after losing their Premier League opener 2-0 at home to Liverpool, with Jacob Greaves, Liam Delap, Arijanet Muric, Conor Townsend and Ben Johnson having also been signed this summer.
