West Ham insider ExWHUemployee has revealed that West Ham are moving closer to making a move for Chelsea striker Armando Broja.
The Hammers were originally linked with the Albanian back in January while the striker was impressing on loan at Southampton.
Of course, no deal materialised back then as David Moyes opted to stick with Michail Antonio as his only striker for the second half of the 21/22 campaign, a decision that sections of the fanbase claim cost the Hammers a place in the Europa League final.
But now it appears Moyes is ready to do business by making a formal offer for Broja in the coming days, as revealed by the reliable ExWHUemployee.
Speaking on his West Ham Way Patron page, he revealed: “Armando Broja is a top target for the club, with the club expected to make a move soon.
“Having now secured the signing of a centre-back in Nayef Aguerd today [Monday], the club are now looking to sign another 5-6 players, including a forward.
“It seems that having made initial inquiries for a number of forwards, the club is preparing to submit a formal offer for the former on-loan Southampton forward.”
Broja netted nine goals in all competitions for Southampton last season, which put him on the map in England’s top-flight, and it now appears West Ham are eager to bring him to east London in order to boost Moyes’ attacking options.
However, any deal might be held up by Chelsea’s own business involving strikers. Romelu Lukaku is expected to return to Inter Milan at some point, while the Blues are interested in signing the likes of Gabriel Jesus and Richarlison. How those three deals progress might determine if, or even when, West Ham can do a deal for their 20-year-old target, which Ex cleared up in his recent post.
He added: “Chelsea ideally wanted to clear up Lukaku’s future before any other player was sold, but this is looking close that he will move back to Inter Milan and most likely on loan.
“Chelsea have forward targets themselves in Jesus of Man City and Richarlison of Everton. The moves of Lukaku and potentially Broja would help free up space for those moves. Chelsea are likely to want to negotiate a buy-back clause, which is something West Ham do not want to consider.
“We expect an offer to go in for the forward in the next day or so and as per, we will bring you all the twists and turns in the deal.”
With Nayef Aguerd already through the door, it appears Moyes is now turning his focus to the one position that is in desperate need of strengthening.
Antonio did an admirable job up front on his own all season, scoring 13 and assisting a further 11 in 47 first-team appearances throughout 21/22. However, the absence of a capable back-up led to him often going on spells without a goal, with him ending the season with just three in 16 appearances in all competitions. That’s in contrast to the beginning of the campaign, when he scored seven goals in West Ham’s opening 10 games.
So targetting a striker as the next big investment this summer comes as no real surprise as David Moyes seeks to build squad depth that is capable of competing across fronts next season.
