Journalist George Caulkin has been speaking about Newcastle United target Armando Broja after an image emerged of Amanda Staveley attending his latest match.
A lot of speculation and excitement was created on Tyneside last Sunday when Amanda Staveley and her husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi were pictured in attendance at Stamford Bridge alongside Chelsea co-owner Behdad Eghbali.
This excitement will have been down to Newcastle being reportedly interested in the Chelsea quartet of Conor Gallagher, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Christian Pulisic and Broja – with the latter said to be a long-term target.
Caulkin believes that Staveley’s meeting with the Chelsea co-chairman will be good to create a relationship from Newcastle’s point of view.
Speaking on the latest episode of Pod on the Tyne, he said: “So I did a little bit of research, and it turns out that they were there at the invitation of Todd Boehly, the new Chelsea co-owner and chairman – and he is someone that Amanda has known since they spoke at an event hosted by the Milken Institute, titled ‘Investing in Volatile Markets’ in 2019.
“So they were there as a sort of social thing, but I’m told also that they viewed that as a chance to grow a relationship with a club that they hope to be rivalling at the top of the Premier League and swap ideas.”
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While getting to know a fellow new owner in the Premier League could be viewed as a good idea and something rather harmless, the Magpies are said to be interested in some of Chelsea’s players, and Caulkin discussed the idea of Broja being a topic of discussion on Sunday afternoon.
He added: “Of course, the other point is that Newcastle have been looking at Chelsea players this window, and so you do wonder whether there were conversations there.
“There has been a kind of long-standing interest in Armando Broja – somebody that they would like to loan that they’ve been looking at.”
TIF Thoughts on Newcastle’s interest in Broja…
It’s been well-documented that Newcastle want to remain informed on the status of Chelsea’s fringe players as they turn to the loan market in search of attacking reinforcements, with the Toon failing to register a shot on target last weekend.
However, with someone such as Conor Gallagher, it would be difficult to see where he fits into the midfield week-in, week-out, whereas someone such as Broja or Hudson-Odoi could provide great depth and competition in their respective positions given how thin Newcastle are in terms of quality up front and on the wing.
And Broja appears to have already been handed the seal of approval from Newcastle legend Alan Shearer, who labelled him as ‘clinical‘ last season after his start to the previous campaign in which he scored in his first two league starts for Southampton.
So it does seem as though their invitation to Stamford Bridge may not merely have been a social event, in which case, Staveley and co should be applauded for taking advantage of the situation to help benefit Newcastle’s own prospects.