Newcastle United and Everton transfer target Armando Broja was screaming in pain after suffering a serious-looking injury during Chelsea’s 1-0 friendly defeat to Aston Villa on Sunday.
With Premier League football set to resume on Boxing Day, teams are starting to prepare for the return of domestic football, as the World Cup enters the semi-final stages in Qatar.
But, for Broja, who was hoping to cement his place in Chelsea’s XI under Graham Potter – or even possibly secure a transfer away from Stamford Bridge – it might just be a long period on the sidelines.
During Chelsea’s friendly clash against Villa, he was closing down Ezri Konsa who was looking to play the ball back to his goalkeeper, Robin Olsen.
With the Villa number two not coming off his line and Broja now breathing down his neck, Konsa decided to change direction and head towards his left, with his opponent then deciding to put in a tackle, missing and falling over in an awkward fashion – Jason Cundy proceeded to criticise the Villa player during that moment.
The screams from Chelsea’s academy product were pretty haunting, as he held his knee in pain, before the go-kart came on and took him off on a stretcher, as you can see from the video below.
NEWCASTLE AND EVERTON LINKED TO BROJA
Last season, Broja spent a season in the colours of Southampton scoring six goals, before returning to Chelsea where he was trying to earn those regular minutes.
Given the potential he has shown, the hard-hitting striker was attracting interest from the likes of Newcastle United and Everton ahead of the January transfer window opening.
But it seems as though that could now be a closed-shop because his reaction to his injury looked season-ending, but he and the Chelsea fans will be hoping that it looks worse on the outside, than the damage that has possibly been caused from within.
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