Broja ACL injury begs Cristiano Ronaldo question as Potter, Boehly seek ‘short-term’ solution
According to reports, Chelsea striker Armando Broja will miss the rest of the season after tearing his ACL, potentially opening the door for Cristiano Ronaldo to join the club.
The Albanian international went down 19 minutes into a friendly against Aston Villa and you could see and hear that he was in a lot of pain.
After a lengthy delay, Broja was taken off on a stretcher and multiple reports say his season is over.
According to The Athletic and Evening Standard, the knee injury Broja has suffered will see him not play again until 2023-24.
The latter say the 21-year-old has ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament, which will see him ruled out for around seven months, you would assume.
It is stated that Chelsea could act in the winter transfer window after losing one of their striker options.
Atletico Madrid’s Joao Felix is available on a loan deal, while Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo is a free agent after leaving Manchester United last month, with Chelsea potentially seeking a ‘short-term’ solution.
Broja has played 18 times across all competitions this season, scoring one and providing an assist in what has been a difficult campaign in front of goal.
Having said that, he has not been given a lot of opportunities, having started only twice in the Premier League for the Blues.
There was interest in Broja last summer after a fruitful loan spell with Southampton. Everton, West Ham, and the Saints were said to be interested in a permanent move for the striker.
The Albanian signed a six-year contract extension with the Londoners in September.
His injury leaves Chelsea head coach Graham Potter with Kai Havertz and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as his only striker options.
Havertz has struggled since leaving Bayer Leverkusen in 2020 and was moulded into a No. 9 by former boss Thomas Tuchel.
You would expect Potter to act when the transfer window re-opens in January.
Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly was reportedly very eager to bring Cristiano Ronaldo to Stamford Bridge during the summer.
However, Tuchel was not keen on signing the problematic Portuguese striker.
A move for Ronaldo could be back on the cards if Boehly fancies it. Whether Potter does remains to be seen though.
The Blues are expected to sign RB Leipzig attacker Christopher Nkunku next summer, and due to the release clause in his contract, are unlikely to make that transfer official in the winter transfer window.
While the aforementioned Evening Standard report only states that ‘former target’ Ronaldo is available for nothing, there is no harm in speculating.
Ronaldo was able to use the World Cup with Portugal as a chance to show his worth to top clubs around the world.
It did not work out that way, however. It actually went pretty horrifically.
His only goal came from the penalty spot against Ghana, before claiming a goal that wasn’t his on matchday two. Ronaldo then failed to score against South Korea and was dropped for the last 16 clash against Switzerland and quarter-final defeat to Morocco.
That interview he had with Piers Morgan helped him leave Manchester United, but certainly did not make him any more desirable to a club like Chelsea.
And the off-field drama refused to go away during Ronaldo’s World Cup campaign, with reports of threats to leave Qatar after being dropped.
There was also a lot of noise coming from Ronaldo’s camp after he was benched, with his sister and partner criticising Portugal manager Fernando Santos.
It has also been reported that Chelsea do not have the option to recall Romelu Lukaku from his loan at Inter Milan.
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