Few Saints supporters have seen Armando Broja in action yet and he has seen only 4 minutes action for parent club Chelsea, but the Stamford Bridge faithful have been salivating over his winning goal for Albania against Hungary.
Armando Broja joined Saints last month with few knowing much about him, even Chelsea supporters would probably have not been able to recognise him in the street, given his last only appearance for the Blues first team came in March 2020 as an 86th sub in a 4-0 home win over Everton.
So far in his St Mary's career only those who went to Newport or Newcastle have seen him play in the flesh and give than a fair few would have gone to both, that narrows down the numbers even more.
Broja started his Saints career well with two goals on his debut at Newport and now he has followed that up with the only goal of the game against Hungary in a World Cup qualifier and it has had Chelsea supporters raving on social media.
Coming on as a 78th minute substitute with 3 minutes remaining he received the ball around 35 yards out and despite being marked by two defenders managed to take them on and get into the penalty are and fire home from just inside the box.
Very Le Tiss like in it's execution, it has had Chelsea fans saying they have the new Diego Costa on their hands whilst others are saying Didier Drogba.
Comments on social media say things like
@PhilipJamal: This kid is destined for the top. I sincerely hope it is at Chelsea.
@taykamau: Armando Broja is gonna be a big name one day in the football world. Might take a while but it's inevitable. He's inevitable.
@CesCardenasV: Fantastic finish. Drogba type of goal.
@BlueKD_: Don't remember who said it but he's the Diego Costa 2.0. He's definitely built for it.
@BashiruSuleman3: The world should not sleep on this boy. Chelsea have got another generational striker in their books. Be scared of that name @armandobroja9.
Saints supporters have been a little less enthusiastic, Broja has not yet had time to make his mark at St Mary's and his two games have been on the road, his debut at Newport County saw him score the winner in the 9th minute before adding another in the 8-0 rout of the Welsh team and although he looked good, judgement was hard due to Newport being so poor.
At Newcastle he came on in the 71st minute for his Premier League debut and although he did nothing wrong and looked the part, he did nothing of real note either in what was a scrappy game by that stage.
Given that he signed a new deal at Stamford Bridge just before he left for St Mary's it is unlikely that Broja will stay any more than this season with us, although given Chelsea's record of loaning out and subsequently selling on youngsters without giving them a real chance in the first team, there could be scope for him to stay longer.
But the problem for Saints will be the money, as with several other Chelsea players who trod a similar path, should he be successful at Saints then his price may rockets.
Signs are that Broja who turns 20 on Friday has the potential to become the number 1 striker at St Mary's this season, that will be a double edged sword, however we have to use him and hopefully benefit from him whilst we can and hopefully he will get us goals this season and ensure that we continue our success in the Premier League and cup runs going forward.