Micah Richards has told Thomas Tuchel and Chelsea that they would be losing a 'quality' talent in the form of Armando Broja if Southampton were to sign him on a permanent transfer in the summer.
Broja, 20, has recorded seven goals this season so far in the Premier League ahead of the Man City clash and nearly had eight with his just offside goal in the first half against Pep Guardiola's side.
Despite being adjudged to have just ran a tad early on this specific occasion in the 23rd minute, the Albanian's composure in front of goal in this certain incidence is a trait that has evaded Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner so far this term.
Therefore, it's no surprise to see the young striker top the goal scoring and striking stats for xG and other forms of attacking metrics this season in comparison to the aforementioned Blues duo that have set back the club a total of £145million in recent times.
With the news that Ralph Hasenhuttl and co are insisting on trying to make Broja's loan a permanent by the summer, football.london understands that a buy back clause would be a certainty if Marina Granovskaia was to give a green light to this deal.
However, football.london also understands that Tuchel wants to see how the 20-year-old fares in pre-season training in case a Tino Livramento part two situation was to unfold in front of his own eyes.
Tuchel said in early January on the current predicament: "Armando's getting better and better, he's a very unique player with unique strengths in his game, he has speed, he's robust and he's a goalscorer. First of all, now is not the moment to discuss the summer, it's the moment for him to stay calm and keep on improving."
Furthermore, it's still up in the air what colour jersey the current Saints number 18 will be donning come the start of the 2022/23 campaign but if Richards' words are anything to go by, then a Blue shirt could be the one that a player touted as the next 'Diego Costa' by the Stamford Bridge faithful will be wearing at the start of September 2022.
The former City full-back said ahead of Southampton vs Man City on the player in question: " He’s quality. When I first seen him, he’s obviously on loan from Chelsea, he has five goals in 17 this season.
"He’s fearless, he’s strong, he runs in behind, he can hold it up - just at the age of 20 as well. I’ve been really impressed with him. Sometimes when young players go on loan, especially in the Premier League, they come off the bench and he’s bided his time a little bit but when his chance came he took it with both hands.
"Every time that I watch him play I’m impressed."
His praise continued in his post-match analysis of the havoc the Blues loanee caused to the City defence all the game.
"He’s just 20-years-old," Richard reiterated.
"He holds the line by himself, his hold up play, constant threat running in behind, his aerial ability as well. He’s really growing in stature. We’re talking about two of the best centre-backs in the league, Laporte and Dias, and he gave them a right good go. He’s got presence."
Alan Smith also called the ex-Vitesse Arnhem loanee a 'real handful' in his commentary moments before Broja hit the post in the second half of the Saturday Night Football, just showing how much emphasis there is on what Chelsea do next in this situation.
