It is perhaps going not going to come as a shock given the media coverage over the past few days but Saints have this morning announced the signing of Armando Broja on a season long loan from Chelsea.

Saints took the first steps of replacing the goals of Danny Ings when they announced that Armando Broja would join the club on a season long loan from Chelsea.

The Slough born striker who will turn 20 in September has Albanian parents and has made 6 appearances for that country at full International level.

He has only made 1 Premier League appearance for Chelsea that as an 86th minute sub, but the Blues rate him highly and his last act before joining Saints for the season was to pen a new 5 year contract at Stamford Bridge.

He spent last season on loan at Vitesse Arnhem and scored 10 goals in the Eridivisie in 30 appearances, so he has some top flight experience to his name.

Some will complain that he is not proven at Premier League level, but it seems that Saints plan is to replace Ings with not one, but two strikers.

A club of Saints size unfortunately cannot have four or top class strikers, but if Saints complete the signing of Adam Armstrong from Blackburn Rovers then Ralph Hasenhuttl will feel he has a decent strike force to hand with Che Adams and Armstrong as his number one pairing with Broja backing them up and then the option of Nathan Tella and Theo Walcott also able to play up front.

In essence to replace Ings contribution last season we need to find 12 Premier League goals, some of them might come from Che Adams who ended last season with 9 and could well exceed that, we will then look for Broja and hopefully Adam Armstrong to get at least 10 goals between them, add to that if Nathan Tella can continue his rise to the first team and things could look up in the striking department.

Saints announced the signing with the following press statement

Southampton Football Club has completed a season-long loan deal for Chelsea striker Armando Broja, it is delighted to announce.

The 19-year-old forward arrives from Stamford Bridge to join Ralph Hasenhüttl’s squad ahead of the 2021/22 campaign.

Broja follows in the footsteps of his former Chelsea teammate Tino Livramento in moving to St Mary’s this summer, representing another of the brightest emerging talents from the European champions’ academy.

Already capped six times at senior level by Albania, Broja spent last season on loan at Vitesse, netting 11 goals in 34 appearances, making him one of the top-scoring teenagers across Europe’s leading divisions, as he helped the Dutch side to a fourth-place finish in the Eredivisie as well as the final of the KNVB Cup.

That followed a 2019/20 campaign in which the Slough-born youngster scored 20 times at academy level, while also making his first-team debut in a 4-0 home win over Everton in March 2020.

Broja signed a new five-year contract at Chelsea this summer and has also impressed during pre-season while featuring for Thomas Tuchel’s first-team, scoring on a number of occasions.

Ralph Hasenhüttl said: “Armando is a very talented player who we were impressed by last season.

“He is young, but he comes now with a full season of experience in senior football with a good team, and he brings a lot of qualities that can help us.

“He is a strong, quick player with a good instinct and this makes him a good fit for the way we like to play.

“I know how highly regarded he is by Chelsea, and I think this will be a good place for him to continue his own development as well.”

Armando Broja said: “I feel very happy. I was really excited to join Southampton. It’s obviously a very good Premier League club.

“They’ve got a good history and they play in the best league in the world, so it’s amazing for a young player to experience it, be in and around a Premier League team, and learn and develop from the older players, the staff and everyone here. It’s a very good opportunity.”

Southampton FC