Chelsea staff had huge belief in 22-year-old in pre-season, but he hasn’t started yet this term

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Reports have claimed that Chelsea had huge belief in the success of Armando Broja before this season got underway.

According to The Athletic, their faith in him and Nicolas Jackson saw them decide not to sign another new striker during the recently closed transfer window.

Broja is yet to start for the Blues this season, as he still gets his fitness back to the required levels after a long layoff.

He has been out for nearly nine months off the back of a serious knee injury, which stopped his first season in blue in its tracks.

The Albanian international has slowly been returning to match levels in recent weeks, with him now playing twice for Mauricio Pochettino’s side this season.

His best opportunity to start comes tonight in the West London derby against Fulham, even though he is likely not back to 100%.

Plenty of faith in Broja

However, Jackson is unavailable for tonight’s game due to already racking up five yellow cards in the opening six league games.

This discipline issue will have likely infuriated Pochettino the most, after he claimed just days before that he had sat down and spoken to the striker regarding his dissent problems.

If Broja is not fit enough to start though, it is likely Raheem Sterling gets the nod as somewhat of a striker, although the gameplan will need various changes for the Blues.

Even though there was the reported belief in the two current first team strikers at the club, reports of them being interested in strengthening their options have not disappeared.

Ivan Toney and Victor Osimhen are two of the players who have been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge, although they will have serious competition for both signatures.