Southampton sign Chelsea’s Broja and close on £15m Adam Armstrong
Southampton have signed the Chelsea forward Armando Broja on a season’s loan and are hopeful of buying the Blackburn striker Adam Armstrong after the Championship club accepted a deal worth up to £15m.
Saints targeted the 24-year-old Armstrong, who scored 29 goals last season, as a replacement for Ings, who joined Aston Villa last week. Broja, who spent the 2020-21 campaign on loan at Vitesse in the Netherlands and turns 20 next month, gives them further options. He got 11 goals in 34 appearances to help Vitesse to finish fourth in the Eredivisie.
“Armando is a very talented player who we were impressed by last season,” said Southampton’s manager, Ralph Hasenhüttl. “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.”
Armstrong, who has less than 12 months remaining on his contract, has also attracted interest from Crystal Palace and Norwich. Blackburn had been holding out for closer to £20m but Saints have made a breakthrough with their latest bid. They expect to agree personal terms and have scheduled a medical for Tuesday morning.
Armstrong was left out of Blackburn’s squad for their opening-day victory against Swansea on Saturday. Newcastle, who sold Armstrong to Blackburn in 2018, are due 40% of the profit from any sale.
Broja, an Albania international, is the third player to move this summer from Chelsea to Southampton, who have also signed the teenagers Tino Livramento and Dynel Simeu.
Ings scored 41 league goals in 91 games for Southampton in three years and he was top scorer in each season.