Journalist Toby Cudworth believes reported West Ham United target Armando Broja rejected a move to West Ham due to fears over his game time.
Despite bringing in Scamacca and starting veteran Michail Antonio, the Hammers are the only side yet to score in the Premier League and are now set to face two of last season’s top four in their next three games.
While they now have their two strikers in Antonio and Scamacca, Cudworth has claimed David Moyes would like to bring in another forward before the end of the window and have had Broja as a top target since the beginning of the summer.
However, they are yet to get a deal done for the Albanian and Cudworth has revealed why Broja turned down a move to the east London club, despite barely featuring for Chelsea this season.
Cudworth told the Talking Transfers podcast: “I just think they’d like another striker if they could. Somebody to play another role, in addition to Antonio and Scamacca – could be Broja, but from our understanding, he actually has rejected going to West Ham, and that’s probably out of a fear of [not getting enough] regular game time.”
TIF Thoughts on West Ham and Broja…
To say the Hammers have been a disappointment so far this season would be an understatement, as after spending £111.29m on signings, they are rooted to the bottom of the table and do not look like a side that can break the top 10, let alone challenge for Europe.
New signing Scamacca has shown he could be the answer for their goal worries after he picked up his first during their Europa Conference League tie with Viborg, but Antonio, on the other hand, has failed to make an impact this term.
While they could use a player like Broja for depth, there is no certainty he would fix their issues. Meanwhile, given he is thought to prefer a permanent move this summer, we agree with Cudworth that his concerns over a West Ham switch could be down to the game time available to him, particularly now that the Hammers have signed Scamacca since their initial approach.
However, it is interesting that a move doesn’t seem dead in the water, considering that he is clearly still a topic of discussion with regard to the east Londoners.
Despite picking up six goals in the Premier League for Southampton last season, he did not score a single goal after 9th February, making it 15 games without a goal.
There is no doubt Broja, who has been hailed as ‘top-class‘, has the potential to be a serviceable striker at the very least, but after splashing the cash on Scamacca, who scored 16 for Sassuolo last season, it feels like West Ham should just give the Italian a run in the starting lineup before spending big again.
Was Broja right to reject West Ham?YesNo |