Everton target Armando Broja could be used as Chelsea eye Victor Osimhen – talkSPORT
Everton target Armando Broja could be used in a swap deal for Napoli star Victor Osimhen, according to talkSPORT’s Alex Crook.
The Toffees are after the Albanian forward and are willing to pay £30million for him, but the Serie A side have also lined him up as a replacement in case their Nigerian striker moves on.
Chelsea are still yet to make a decision on the 20-year-old’s future as they look to fill the gap left by club-record purchase Romelu Lukaku who has gone back to Inter on loan.
Thomas Tuchel had wanted the preseason to consider the former Southampton loanee for that job but, according to Crook, Broja is growing impatient at the situation with West Ham also chasing his signature.
Now Osimhen, 23, has been added to the list of potential targets at Stamford Bridge, and with him valued at “in excess of £80million”, Crook believes the Albania international could be used to lower the outlay.
Unlikely but not impossible
Having shelled out almost £100million last year for a central striker that proved not to be the right option it seems hard to imagine that the new regime would do the same again this summer, whoever they could include in the deal.
But with Todd Boehly apparently interested in signing Cristiano Ronaldo is is frankly hard to know what decisions they are going to make at Chelsea.
Although Frank Lampard has a strong connection to the club, he doesn’t with the new American owner, but it wouldn’t be a shock for the billionaire to want to ingratiate himself with the fans in west London by cultivating a good relationship with their record scorer.
That the Toffees are apparently ready to spend such a significant amount on Broja who, although rated, has only scored six Premier League goals has Goodison News pundit Kevin Campbell of the opinion that there may be repercussions for Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
It would be a huge move if Chelsea went after Osimhen properly, and even bigger if they included the youngster, but with the player agitating to get commitments on his future one way or the other it seems certain something will happen soon.
Everton need more goals and it looks like the manager thinks he can find them in a talent from his former side, but there are now multiple other avenues for Broja to go down so it may be a tough one to complete for the Toffees.