Wolverhampton Wanderers could potentially take advantage of Arsenal’s midweek defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League by inflicting their third loss in the space of seven days this weekend.
Gary O’Neil’s men haven’t been in the best of form either, failing to win any of their previous five fixtures in all competitions, which included an FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Coventry City.
The manager will be hoping for a solid end-of-season burst to achieve a top-half Premier League finish before turning his eye to the transfer market in a bid to improve his squad.
Indeed, O’Neil may well be eyeing up a possible swoop for a current Premier League striker…
Wolves transfer news
Throughout the January transfer window, it was clear the Old Gold were on the hunt for a striker in order to give them a lift heading into the second half of the season.
Armando Broja was one of their main targets a few months ago, and it looked as though a loan move was close to going through.
The deal was an initial loan move with an obligation to buy for £30m at the end of the season, yet it was put on pause by Wolves as they aimed to stay within Premier League spending regulations and avoid any penalties.
He moved to Fulham instead, but according to Fabrizio Romano, the Molineux side could still make a move for him during the summer.
“The position for Wolves is still there,” Romano told GIVEMESPORT when discussing Broja. “So let’s see what’s going to happen or if they will add some other player to their shortlist of strikers. Let’s also see what Chelsea want to do with Broja because he’s returning to Stamford Bridge. But for sure, I think Wolves will be busy with a striker in the summer transfer window.”
O’Neil may have to move a few players on for significant fees before he can get to work in the window, but it looks as though he is eyeing up Broja.
The striker may have only scored twice this season, but statistically, he is comparable with Romelu Lukaku and this could perhaps tempt the club to dig deep and make their move.
How Armando Broja compares to Romelu Lukaku
Considering the Belgian has been on fire this term, scoring 18 goals in 41 matches for AS Roma, a comparison with Broja does seem a bit hyperbolic, yet the stats show that the pair are fairly alike.
According to FBref, Lukaku is tenth-most comparable striker to Broja in Europe’s top five leagues and considering how impressive the 30-year-old has been in front of goal for club and country over the previous decade, signing a player like him could be a wise move by Wolves.
This season, Broja and Lukaku have registered similar domestic statistics with regard to shots per 90 (2.29 vs 2.05), shot-creating actions per 90 (1.4 vs 2.21), successful take-ons (15 vs 11) and goal-creating actions per 90 (0.18 vs 0.31) showing that the duo have performed fairly well this term.
While the Old Gold may not be signing a player who could score 25 goals and more per season by swooping for Broja, he has shown he will attempt plenty of efforts on goal while trying to take on opposition defenders regularly.
While this season hasn’t quite been the greatest for the Albanian forward as he spent the early stages recovering from a serious injury suffered last term, he has enjoyed success in the Premier League with Southampton during a loan spell there during 2021/22.
Armando Broja’s stats in the Premier League
The £40k-per-week forward moved to the south coast on a temporary arrangement in the summer of 2021 and ended up scoring nine goals in 38 matches across all competitions.
In the top flight that season, Broja averaged 1.4 shots per game, missed five big chances, created two big chances, and succeeded with one dribble attempt per game.
As far as a debut campaign in the Premier League goes, it wasn’t half bad, proving that the youngster may have the required skills to be a success at Chelsea, especially as they needed a striker who could chip in with goals.
Despite this, he suffered a cruciate ligament tear in December of his first proper season as a Chelsea regular, keeping him out for a total of 29 matches, returning last September.
It was evident the injury derailed any of the progress he had made at the Saints, scoring just three goals for the Stamford Bridge side since the start of the 2022/23 campaign.
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U23 scout Antonio Mango lauded the player as being a “magnificently unique talent” during his injury layoff, and it looks as though he needs a consistent run in the starting XI to get his confidence back.
When compared to positional peers in Europe’s top five leagues, however, Broja currently ranks in the top 1% for pass success rate per 90 (84.1%) and successful take-ons per 90 (2.64), while also ranking in the top 8% for touches in the opposition penalty area per 90 (6.86) and the top 17% for progressive carries per 90 (2.29), showing how impressive he has been when compared to his peers, despite his lack of goals.
There is no doubt Wolves need a striker who can feed off the likes of Hwang Hee-Chan and Matheus Cunha, but perhaps Broja could offer a lot more going forward rather than just goals.
Much will depend on how much Chelsea will demand for their striker, but it’s safe to say they could potentially drop their valuation considering he has failed to score during his loan spell with the Cottagers so far.
Will O’Neil want to blow what could be the majority of his budget on a striker, however? Especially when there are other areas of the team to be improved ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
Time will tell as this summer could be one of the most important in the club’s recent history, especially as they look to build on a solid debut season under O’Neil.