Chelsea forward Armando Broja was taken off as Chelsea faced Aston Villa in a mid-season friendly ahead of the return of Premier League football. Just 19 minutes in he collided with Ezri Konsa and went down holding his right knee which he needed a stretcher to aid him off the field of play.
Despite not knowing the full extent of the problem it could be that Chelsea are without the forward for some time. The January window is being targeted by plenty of clubs for forwards, including Arsenal, who are also without their own striker Gabriel Jesus, after a knee injury.
The Gunners, however, were already on the lookout for a wide-player football.london understands. Should Chelsea decide to enter the market, this is likely only to congest efforts to reinforce with the limited available quality that the winter window provides.
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This could also affect clubs who have been linked with a potential move for Christian Pulisic. Arsenal have been mentioned by reports as one of the interested clubs tracking the situation of the US international.
With Chelsea potentially a forward down for the long-term, Graham Potter would be further short-handed in attack to allow Pulisic to leave, especially to a rival. It leaves Chelsea with Pulisic, Kai Havertz and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as their attacking options.
Chelsea are the lowest scorers in the top half of the table with just 17 goals. Three behind Manchester United but a sizeable five-point gap separates the two and a massive 16 points is the chasm between the Blues and Arsenal.
On the market, the options are not forthcoming outside of significantly expensive transfer fees. Joao Felix, for instance, has a reported valuation of in excess of 100 million euros by Atletico Madrid.
Shakhtar Donetsk possess long-term Arsenal transfer target Mykhaylo Mudryk. The Ukrainian side notably have a similar valuation of the winger.
Both Arsenal and Chelsea, should they not be happy with their existing options, will have to go deep into their pockets this winter. Both owners have shown willingness to spend, with Chelsea shelling out more than £250million on Wesley Fofana, Kalidou Koulibaly, Raheem Sterling, Marc Cucurella, Carney Chukwuemeka, Aubameyang, Gabriel Slonina and Cesare Casadei.
Arsenal went big on Manchester City pair Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko. In addition to Fabio Vieira, Matt Turner and Marquinhos, the Gunners continued what is becoming a significant annual outlay.
That said, Arsenal didn’t buy any senior players last January but face the pressure of being at the top of the table to take advantage of the situation. Meanwhile, Chelsea, as the lowest scorers in the top half, face the expectation of trying to turn their season around to finish in the top four.
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