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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Marc Mayo

Chelsea takeover hurting Southampton’s pursuit of permanent transfer for Armando Broja, says Ralph Hasenhuttl

Southampton are being held back in their efforts to sign Chelsea loanee Armando Broja permanently due to the situation behind the scenes at Stamford Bridge, Ralph Hasenhuttl has claimed.

The 20-year-old Albania international has hit nine goals in 32 appearances this season, his first in the Premier League, to draw big interest from Southampton and other clubs in a summer transfer.

As the deadline for takeover bids to buy Chelsea arrived on Thursday, the Saints boss said: “We are discussing this topic in the moment.

“We all know the situation at Chelsea that there are a lot of changes there. In the moment, it's not so easy to find the right person to talk to and to speak about futures of players.

“It's maybe easier to concentrate on your job, to do a good job until the end of the season. That helps him, that helps us.

“The higher we end up in the table, the more attractive we are for all of the players and this is the goal for the last seven games we have.”

Southampton face Arsenal on the weekend with Broja looking to end an eight-game run without a goal.

“Broja on his best level is definitely a player that can help us,” added Hasenhuttl.

“But the important thing is that he also has to step up and find the way back to his best performances, like we all have to. This is the goal for the weekend.”

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