Despite a rare leading role for Armando Broja in Everton’s starting line-up against Nottingham Forest yesterday, it was perhaps significant that he had been replaced by Beto long before the team finally produced the match-winning goal in added time.
On the field for little more than an hour, he didn’t really get any clear chances to score but played his part in a number of attacking moves that just didn’t come off for the Blues against the usually stingy Forest defence.
And a strong rumour doing the rounds now is that Everton will not be taking advantage of the £30M option to make the loan permanent. With just 2 starts and 6 appearances from the bench, Broja has nothing to show in terms of goals and is probably overpriced for Everton at this point as the club looks for a sweeping rebuild in the summer.
His injury record is possibly the biggest obstacle, with Everton agreeing to take him on loan initially while he was injured and unavailable for weeks at the beginning of the season. Then he was out for more than 2 months when he sustained ankle ligament damage back in January, only returning last month as a sub against West Ham Utd.
Broja has been unable to replicate the form that earned rave reviews during a loan spell at Southampton in the 2021-22 season where his 6-foot-3-inch frame caused Premier League defenders all sorts of problems. The Slough-born striker is now unlikely to persuade Moyes and Everton recruitment team to reconsider their position with time and opportunities running out for him. .