Thomas Tuchel has urged Armando Broja to keep on making a statement at Southampton as rumours begin to swirl regarding his Chelsea future.
The Albanian striker has shone at St Mary's on-loan from the Blues so far this season and football.london understands that talks between Southampton and Chelsea over a permanent switch to the south coast have been discussed.
Broja signed a new five-year contract at Chelsea in the summer before he followed Tino Livramento down to Ralph Hassenhuttl's side, though the latter joined on a permanent deal.
The on-loan striker Broja has scored five goals in just under 800 minutes, an average of a goal every 152 minutes on the field.
He also has a shot conversion rate of 25 per cent, higher than Romelu Lukaku (22.7 per cent) and Liverpool's Mohamed Salah (20 per cent).
Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of the trip to Brighton, Tuchel was asked about Broja's future and he said: "He is our player, he is doing good, but at the same time it is only halfway through the season so he needs to continue to improve and make his statement at Southampton.
"They are our players for a reason, they have quality and a mentality.
"Armando is getting better and better. He is a unique player with unique strengths: strong and robust and a goalscorer.
"Now is not is not the time to talk about summer. He has to stay calm and keep on improving."
Southampton head coach Hassenhuttl gave a very honest answer ahead of his side's defeat to Wolves on Saturday when he too was asked about Broja.
"We will find a solution that is hopefully the best for the player and also for us," the Saints head coach said.
"There are various options that you can talk about but the most important thing is that the player knows what he has to do.
"I think that he knows very clear what he has with us at this club and that he feels super good here, everyone knows that. He knows Tino [Livramento] and Dynel [Simeu] from Chelsea, he knows Will [Smallbone] and Nathan Tella.
"This isn't about money, it is about feeling comfortable and getting a good atmosphere to develop your game and to get better and better."
