Medical expert Ben Dinnery has told GiveMeSport that there is a good chance that Chelsea’s Armando Broja has suffered ligament damage that could end his season.
The Albanian was heard screaming in agony in what was a fairly innocuous moment during the club’s friendly against Aston Villa.
He was forced off in a stretcher, leaving fans to fear the worst in the middle of his first season as a Chelsea first team player.
While Graham Potter is remaining hopeful that it is not as bad as it looked, the signs are not good for the 21-year-old.
Dinnery has claimed that if the injury involves his ACL, it will see him require surgery, and therefore end his campaign early.
He said: “From that coming together, there’s a really strong chance of ligament damage. Of course, the next steps will be determined by how severe that is and which ligament is caused the problem.
Broja could be out for season
“We’ve seen the way the knee moved and bent, so there could be medial collateral ligament involvement, which is the one on the inside of the knee.
“But we couldn’t rule out a more serious setback, which would be the ACL. If it was the latter and we were talking about a rupture then, unfortunately, he would need to go under the knife and that would potentially be season-ending.”
The injury has left Chelsea severely lacking options in the striker department.
Only Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Kai Havertz stand out as options to play down the middle, with both not exactly posing regular goal threats this season.
This could see the Blues enter the market next month for another striker who can fill the void.
They have reportedly reached a pre-agreement to sign Christopher Nkunku from RB Leipzig, however he is likely to not be available to them until the summer.
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