Three months ago Armada Broja's stock was high and he was being linked with high profile moves with the price tag being quoted as anything between £35-50 million, however a dip in form has seen those transfer rumours greatly diminish, so what does the future hold for him.

When he arrived on loan from Chelsea no one had heard much about Armando Broja, most had to google his name to discover that he had spent the previous season on loan at Vitesse Arnhem and his Premier League experience at Chelsea amounted to a brief substitute appearance with no other games in other competitions.

His debut came in the Carabao Cup at Newport County and he scored twice in an 8-0 drubbing of the Welsh side, but was that a real gauge of his talents ?

Initially the answer was no and there were some cautious words of criticism/encouragement from Ralph Hasenhuttl.

His first four Premier League appearances came off the bench and his first start in his fifth saw him score the only goal against Leeds united at St Mary's, he followed that up in the next game against Burnley with another goal in a 2-2 draw.

He was back on the bench for three out of the next four and didn't add to his total.

Then came another burst of goals, two in three games to be exact with strikes against Brighton at home and then Palace away followed by a goal against Brentford in early January.

Now his stock was truly high and Saints fans worried about the terms of his loan deal and could Chelsea recall him and indeed sell him, with the likes of Newcastle, Arsenal & West Ham United said to be just three of the teams interested and willing to pay anywhere between £35-50 million for the 20 year old.

But little did we know that he was about to start a goal drought, in the Premier League he would notch just one goal in the next four months, that being at Tottenham Hotspur in early February a run encompassing 14 Premier League games, although he did score in the FA Cup against West Ham on 2nd March.

The problem though has been that Broja is a player where scoring is the big part of his game, if he is not scoring he is in the main not contributing, he has just one assist to his name in all competitions.

Perhaps some of this can be put down to inexperience, certainly he has not got the positional sense of Shane Long, Broja's game is in essence reactional, he needs the ball played to him and then he makes his run, usually hustling and bustling in the style of an old fashioned number 9.

But is this enough in the modern game, today's striker needs to have more in their armoury, the ability to make runs to make space for others and to create chances.

Suddenly the plaudits have stopped for Broja, one headline suggested that those clubs who had been linked with him had dodged a bullet in not being able to sign him, also it is being suggested that his direct style is not suited to the way his parent club Chelsea play, they have a style that means that they pass the ball and rely on runs being made off the ball to create space to do that.

This is not Broja's strength's, with the ball at his feet running at defenders he can be devastating, but at Premier League level, defenders can cope with that, charging through the back four is not enough just on it's own.

If Ralph Hasenhuttl has made a mistake it is that he played Broja in the starting line up for too long, he didn't take him out of the firing line, he hoped that the player would be able to play his way through.

This had consequences in that we didn't create enough chances for others, Che Adams who had quietely got on with the job in hand and not only scored goals but made space and created chances for others was left on the bench whilst Broja misfired.

It seemed that we were playing him in an attempt to convince him he should stay at St Mary's beyond this season.

That seems to have upset some in the squad, when the 3rd substitution was made against Crystal Palace on Saturday, Adam Armstrong was seen going down the tunnel, who could blame him, he is a player who will be at the club next season, whilst the likelihood is that Broja will not be, surely he should have been given a chance to show what he can do.

Back in January both Broja and Che Adams looked set to get into double figures in Premier League goals, now only Adams looks likely to, sitting on 9 goals assuming he isn't left on the bench as he has been of late.

So what does the future hold now for Armando Broja, with sanctions on Chelsea and ownership uncertain, could he be forced to spend next season at Stamford Bridge with little chance of getting a game in the first team.

Would those suitors from January still be as enthusiastic after his form since January ?

Finally would Saints themselves want him back next season, lets be blunt 6 goals in 30 appearances is not a great total, do Saints still see the potential in Armando Broja, or are they ready to walk away and look to other options next season.

Perhaps it will come down to how much they have to pay, that could be the same for any club, Chelsea might have been hoping for £35 million, but could they now struggle to get £10 million for the six goal striker, they will hope there are clubs out there willing to pay for potential .

This article seems like a complete hatchet job on the Armenian from Slough, I don't mean it to sound that way, I am trying to be objective, perhaps some things can have been done better, certainly we have persevered with him when he should have been on the bench, I also fear that our coaching staff have not been able to improve him and help him learn how to play off the ball.

When Armando Broja leaves St Mary's in a week or so it will be to an uncertain future, there will not be a shortage of offers that is for sure, but they won't be the offers that were being rumoured back in January.

Photo: Action Images

underweststand added 10:43 - May 4 Not a difficult choice for Saints, but his start / stop form isn't unusual for a striker (especially a young one ) is fairly typical, so If / when Chelsea sort themselves out it might be easier for them to allow him another loan season with us. Armando looked red-hot early season, but now he has been "sussed" it's been tougher and his goal spree has noticeably dried up and he doesn't look so hot playing as a one-man striker. All those half-baked journos who continually link him with big name clubs for huge transfer fees aren't the ones who will lay out the cash. If Chelsea decided to keep him themselves (?) he wouldn't be well-placed to dislodge the likes of Werner & Co. and might only get a few minutes off the bench, or going back to regular turnouts for their U23 side, which won't advance his career prospects at all. Most sensible decision all round is : we keep him on loan for another season.

3

SaintPaulVW added 11:11 - May 4 Not giving Armstrong regular playing time seems a bit shortsighted. However unless we play passes into space we aren't giving him the best service to enable him to play to his strengths. Broja fits the ball to feet possession style that we play. However he doesn't do much else when he hasn't got the ball. They both need more time to develop. Now that the Broja bubble has burst, I can see him signing another year's loan. Unless we change our style of play, I'm not sure Armstrong is going to fare any better next year. COYR

4

SanMarco added 11:15 - May 4 Difficult one - but largely not in our hands. Offer Chelsea 10m and if they say no then look elsewhere is one option. I don't like the idea of another loan. That means that we are doing Chelsea's work for them. Let's get someone in who can work with Adams - and Alan Armstrong for that matter. Ralph presumably has a view on all this...Broja has been a reflection in miniature of Saints' up and down season. Occasionally great but more often poor.

3

A1079 added 11:24 - May 4 None of our forwards are prolific irrespective of their age or experience. What we have is usually a very brief spell of scoring or one goal in about 15 games and then prolonged spells of nothing be it Shane Long, Che Adams or Adam Armstrong and now Broja (but to be fair to Broja he is very young and learning). When they do get near the target they seem adept at hitting the opposing goalkeeper. Perhaps the issue is the supply from midfield etc and the lack of confidence at hitting the target. Mix that with our problems at the back and it is not difficult to see why we are still looking over our shoulder. I will be surprised if Broja stays with us as you just get the feeling he doesn't want to but I base that purely on gut feeling and no facts. I would like him to stay as I think he has potential especially if he gets the right support on and off the pitch. To point out he has only scored 6 is only marginally worse return than Adams with 7 PL goals and better than Shane Long with 1 or 2, Adam Armstrong with 2 PL goals.

4

landsdownsaint added 12:29 - May 4 I don’t doubt his ability but his body language says it all l. Regards Adam Armstrong he needs too watch how Kevin Phillips positioned himself , there a good player in there
4

andoverpedro added 13:22 - May 4 I would pay 10m for broja as i think he has all the assetts that you need to survive in the top flight , strength, speed and skill and can strike a ball and above all height which is what we have lacked for a few years . Che Adams has been poor in recent weeks and has had 3 years here to get it right this lad ( Broja)looks twice the player he is and as for Adam armstrong once again great skill and can strike a ball but too small and easily pushed off the ball we need height around him for him to survive similar to Pelle for Mane and Lambert for Lallana .

0

halftimeorange added 13:33 - May 4 If he stays or goes I'm sure Broja will be a big hit in due course. His decline in form mirrors that in Saints overall. As for Adam Armstrong well, he reminds me of Billy Sharp who also wasn't given enough game time. Sharp, however, wasn't so easily knocked off the ball. I don't think our forwards have been found out. No pair has successfully fashioned a partnership up front and we don't have a playmaker of the Lallana class. Stuart Armstrong is really gifted but, sadly inconsistent. We aren't able to make the opposition wary in the way we did when either Lallana or Lambert had the ball. I know we've said it before but, better coaching and scouting have to be the way forward.

0

JoeEgg added 14:18 - May 4 If you want to do a hatchett job do it on the manager. The players have been appallingly handled by a clueless boss. Please let Forest lose the play offs so we can get Steve Cooper.
0

redwight added 15:08 - May 4 It needs to be remembered just how young he is. Like Salisu, both showed great potential earlier in the season, both have tailed off, but I'm convinced both will develop into outstanding players. IF he could be signed for anything in the region of 10 million, it should be seen as a no brainer. As for Adam Armstrong, he should be told he will start the remaining games of the season, come what may. IMO this should have happened a few weeks ago. How else are we (or he) meant to find out if he has what it takes at this level?

3

TimSaint added 10:35 - May 5 We need a striker overhaul. Currently we have: A 20 year old who is still learning, but we don't play to his strengths. A 35 year old who is at the twilight of his career but can do a 30 min job. 2 x Championship strikers. (1 of which we again don't play to his strengths but expect results) As for Broja, take him if he is available on the cheap, but please play to his strengths. He is far from the finished article, but at least we have seen glimpses of what he is capable of. Perhaps he should also do some work on his motivation over the summer.

0

Blogs 31 bloggers

Arsenal Polls