There are now only five days to go until the transfer deadline on 1st February, and Gary O’Neil and Wolves still haven’t managed to add a new striker to their squad, having allowed Sasa Kalajdzic and Fabio Silva to leave on loan for Eintracht Frankfurt and Rangers respectively.
One potential target for the Molineux outfit is Chelsea’s Armando Broja, who doesn’t appear to have a long-term future in west London. Wolves have been in touch, along with fellow Premier League sides Fulham, Crystal Palace and West Ham, to express their interest in a potential deal. The Blues are willing to sanction an initial loan, but they’re insistent upon a £35m obligation to buy at the end of it.
As you can see in the table above, Broja has appeared in 19 games for Chelsea this season, and started five of the last seven with striker rival Nicolas Jackson away at the Africa Cup of Nations. Clearly, though, Mauricio Pochettino has been dissatisfied with his output, and is ready to move on.
Fosun now receive Broja ultimatum
According to transfer insider Dean Jones, Broja is Wolves’ top striker target this month. However, Chelsea have issued an ultimatum to Fosun, telling them that they need to agree to the obligation to buy if they want to get a deal done. Wolves may feel as if they can test the Blues’ resolve on the price tag, however, given that they clearly want rid of the Albanian.
Speaking to GiveMeSport, Jones said: “Wolves’ intent around Broja is definitely there. They will sign a striker, and they’d like it to be Broja. Chelsea say it can be done, but with an obligation.
“If the obligation is £35m, then that’s a big call from Wolves if they’re willing to throw themselves at that one because there’s a reason that Chelsea are putting an obligation in there.
“That’s telling you that they don’t want the player anymore if they’re saying that Wolves have to buy him because if Chelsea still had faith in Broja, they would be sending him to Wolves to score the goals they’ve been hoping he would get and bring him back into the picture to do a job for them. But that’s not the case at the moment. Chelsea are saying it’s got to be an obligation.”
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Only Jude Bellingham has scored more goals than him this season.
Diallo and Mayoral among Broja alternatives
If Wolves don’t respond positively to the aforementioned ultimatum, there are a couple of different targets they could pivot towards in the final days of the window. One of those is Getafe striker Borja Mayoral, who’s been watched closely and shares the same agent as Hugo Bueno.
Crystal Palace and Arsenal are interested too, but with Getafe demanding £20m, he too could prove overly expensive for a side walking a financial tightrope.
That could lead Wolves to favour Al-Shabab’s Habib Diallo, who’s apparently grown unhappy in Saudi Arabia and wants to return to Europe. There’s rival interest in France and Germany, but they’re apparently ready to loan him out if they receive an appropriate offer.
Wolves have clearly taken ample time to assess their options and lay the groundwork for some potential deals, but we’re fast approaching the phase of the window where they need to press the button and move forward.
