Chelsea have now been handed a significant boost ahead of the Blues’ clash with Luton Town with Armando Broja returning to training at Cobham with his teammates

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Mauricio Pochettino

Armando Broja is back training with his Chelsea teammates at Cobham ahead of Friday’s game against Luton Town.

The 21-year-old striker has been sidelined since last December with a serious knee injury he suffered in a friendly against Aston Villa. Scan results revealed that Broja had suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture and he underwent surgery.

Now, though, just a few days before Chelsea welcome Luton to Stamford Bridge for their third game of the 2023/24 Premier League season, the Albanian is back on the grass with the rest of his teammates. After missing such a long time because of the problem, it is unlikely that Broja will start against the newly-promoted Hatters, but even if he was named on the bench, it would come as a huge boost to Mauricio Pochettino and his backroom staff.

Broja posted an image of him training on his Instagram page, with the caption: “In order to look good in front of thousands, you have to outwork thousands in front of nobody.” He was pictured alongside new signings Lesley Ugochukwu, Andrey Santos and Moises Caicedo at Cobham.

Speaking to the press on Friday at Chelsea’s training ground, head coach Pochettino was asked about his transfer plans when it comes to attacking players. The Argentine revealed it was something that has been consistently considered by the club but he was also cautious about blocking the pathway of developing the returning Broja.

“We are working, of course,” the Chelsea boss said on any further incomings at Stamford Bridge. “We are looking at all of the options that we can manage on the market. We can see the potential. But I think at the same time, we are keeping one or two eyes on Armando Broja.

“We cannot forget him. We cannot stop him. We really believe in him – we know how important he can be for Chelsea. We need to be careful.

“I think it’s a big disappointment with the situation of Christoph [Nkunku], because he should be a really important player for us and to help Nico Jackson score goals. That is football and we need to accept that situation. Sometimes we cannot go for some player that maybe we already have. We need to be patient and adapt our squad and get positive results while waiting for Armando to be fully fit.”

Broja returned to Chelsea last season after spending the previous campaign at Southampton on loan. The Cobham graduate featured 18 times for Chelsea in all competitions, where he scored one goal and assisted the same amount.

Soucre: football.london