Mauricio Pochettino’s recent claim that Armando Broja has the potential to reach a similar level to Harry Kane has been rubbished by a former Chelsea defender.
Broja, who is wanted by Fulham and Wolves ahead of the January transfer deadline, has only played 453 minutes of Premier League football this season, with Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku ahead of the 22-year-old in the striker pecking order at Chelsea.
Blues boss Pochettino issued Broja with some reassuring words over his future last month, saying his potential is ‘massive’, despite his struggles in front of goal.
Pochettino’s faith in Broja
“All the biggest strikers need time,” Pochettino said of Broja, who has scored twice in 19 appearances this season. “When they are young, they need to find their own balance. But I believe that he has the potential to be an amazing striker.
“I always compare it to Harry Kane. He went on loan to Leyton Orient, Norwich and spent time finding his real balance. In our first six months he started to perform only in December and January and that’s when we started to see his real potential.”
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"I'm not going to make any comments on players or rumours"Marco Silva is remaining tight-lipped after Armando Broja's transfer link to Fulham 🤐 pic.twitter.com/VUy1V7CMa3
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) February 1, 2024
However, William Gallas, a title-winner with Chelsea, isn’t having any of it. He told Genting Casino: “Does Poch think that Armando Broja has the same potential as Harry Kane? Come on. We know that Pochettino is a diplomatic manager who never criticises individual players in public.
“People are fascinated with stats in football. Everyone likes to speak about stats, so if you compare Kane’s stats with Broja’s… Broja is 22 years old and from last season until now, he has only scored two goals in the Premier League. OK, he has been injured, but last season he scored one goal and this season he has scored one [league] goal in 13 games. You can’t compare him to Kane. When Kane was 20, he scored 21 goals in the Premier League. The season after he scored twenty-five.
“If you’re talking about stats, you can’t compare the two players. For me, Broja will never be at the same level as Harry Kane. He will be a good player, but he will never be an elite-level player. Broja won’t be a world-class player.”