Everton have pulled off a very late transfer deal with Chelsea for forward Armando Broja after the Albanian’s revived move to Ipswich Town had collapsed again earlier in the day.
The Blues got a deal sheet in under the wire just as the summer window was about to close and had until 1am on Saturday morning to finalise the paperwork on an intial loan deal with a £30m option to purchase next summer.
The indications shortly after that second deadline passed were that the transfer had been processed in time with the Premier League and that was confirmed by the likes of Fabrizio Romano and The Athletic before the Club rubber-stamped it with a tweet around 2am.
The agreement with Chelsea does not include any move for Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the other direction — that despite the Londoners sounding the Merseysiders out over a £10m bid earlier in the day — neither does it involve a loan fee. Everton will begin to cover the 22-year-old’s wages once he recovers from an injury that might mean Toffees fans won’t see him play until after the second international break.
The news of Everton’s 11th-hour bid came after they had failed in an attempt to sign winger Ernest Nuamah from Lyon, having signed Orel Mangala on loan from the French club earlier in the day.
A fee was reportedly agreed but in the face of rival interest from Fulham, Nuamah could not be pursuaded to choose Merseyside over London and he opted for a switch to Craven Cottage, although as the deadline ticked down that deal collapsed as well, with the Cottagers signing Reiss Nelson instead.
Meanwhile, Everton pressed on with landing Broja, two years after first trying to sign the 22-year-old when Frank Lampard was in charge at Goodison Park.
Ipswich had spent the past few days trying to get a similar loan-plus-option agreement over the line but the East Anglian club eventually balked at the terms due to the fact that Broja is expected to be out of action until the second half of October at the earliest because of an Achilles injury.
That follows a lengthy spell out with a ruptured anterior cruciate knee ligament he sustained in December 2022, after which he joined Fulham on loan for a largely unproductive spell last season.
He was fit enough to represent Albania at this summer’s Euro 2024 but should his transfer from Stamford Bridge go through, he won’t be available to Sean Dyche for another two months.
“Having monitored Armando’s journey for a number of years, we’re very pleased to have been able to bring him to the Club,” said director of football, Kevin Thelwell.
“Armando is still a young player who has already built up some impressive experience but someone we also feel has lots more potential to be unlocked.
“First and foremost, we will work with him to get him fit as soon as possible. Then, his addition will strengthen our options in the attacking department.”
Born in Slough, Broja was signed by Chelsea in 2020 and, coincidentally, made his senior debut against Everton before being farmed out to sibling club Vitesse in the Netherlands for a season where he scored 11 goals in 38 appearances.
He spent the next season in the Premier League at Southampton where he really came to prominence as a powerful, pacy forward and notched another nine goals in 34 games.
Brought into the first-team fold at Stamford Bridge for the 2022-23 season, he struggled to make an impact in a more talented squad making 18 appearances in all competitions and scoring just once before his ACL injury, suffered during a friendly against Aston Villa arranged during the hiatus for the Qatar World Cup, wrecked his hopes of making further progress.
Once he had regained fitness, it was hoped he would be able to refind his form at Craven Cottage but in eight games he failed to find the net. His move to Goodison Park offers him another chance to reignite his career once his latest injury problems are behind him.