Ipswich are close to signing Chelsea striker Armando Broja, The Pitch Prospect has learned.
The Blues have given the 22-year-old permission to undergo a medical after agreeing a loan deal.
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And the two clubs have also agreed a £30 million deal for the 23-time Albanian international should Ipswich avoid relegation to the Championship.
Broja was expected to leave Stamford Bridge as new boss Enzo Maresca deemed him surplus to requirements.
He was one of three players, along with Conor Gallagher and Romelu Lukaku, who were not included in the squad for Sunday’s 2-0 defeat to Manchester City.
The trio attempted to leave west London this summer after being excluded from all first-team activities.
For academy graduate Broja, this is already the fourth loan from Chelsea.
He spent the 2020/21 season on loan at Dutch club Vitesse, where he scored eleven goals in 34 appearances.
The following season, Broka scored nine goals in 38 games for Southampton.
And after falling down the pecking order under Mauricio Pochettino last season, he spent the second half of the season at Fulham but failed to score in eight appearances.
Overall, Broja has only found the net three times for Chelsea in his 38 games in all competitions.
But he hopes to hit the ground running at Portman Road, where he will be the Tractor Boys’ tenth summer signing.
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Ipswich have already done business with Chelsea this transfer window, signing winger Omari Hutchinson for a club-record fee of £22.5 million.
Kieran McKenna’s side have also signed Jacob Greaves from Hull, Liam Delap from City, Sammie Szmodics from Blackburn, Arijanet Muric from Burnley and Conor Townsend from West Brom.
They also snapped up Ben Johnson on a free transfer after he was sacked by West Ham.
In addition, there are the loans of Kalvin Phillips from the Citizens and Jens Cajuste from Naples.
But the signing of Broja is a major coup for the promoted team.
Broja had already been on AC Milan’s radar earlier in the transfer window, and Monaco and Stuttgart also had admirers of the youngster.
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