Burnley can hit £20m transfer jackpot - Southampton & Chelsea know all about it | OneFootball

Armando Broja has had a tough time since joining Burnley, but he could start repaying the £20m fee by helping the club to promotion next season.

Burnley’s recruitment is under the spotlight after their poor Premier League campaign that resulted in relegation without much of a fight.

The Clarets have now been relegated three times in five years, and whilst they have won promotion twice in that period, there’s no guarantee they will go up again next season.

Firstly, the hierarchy at Turf Moor have a lot of work to do, not least appointing a new manager, with Scott Parker having left the club last month.

Then, work will begin on reshaping the squad, but, like all relegated teams, departures are inevitable as Burnley deal with a substantial drop in revenue.

Armando Broja has struggled since his £20m Burnley move

However, unlike in previous years, raising serious funds could prove difficult for Burnley, as a lot of the squad struggled with the demands of the top flight, so the market may not be there for many of the group.

One player who falls into that category is Armando Broja, with the striker having failed to live up to expectations since his arrival from Chelsea in a deal worth up to £20m last summer.

The Albanian international found the net just once in 24 league games, although many of those appearances were from the bench. Worryingly, injuries once again disrupted Broja’s campaign as well, with the 24-year-old having had plenty of bad luck on that front over the years.

So, it’s hard to imagine any club offering anywhere near what Burnley paid for the player, which leaves the club in a difficult position as they look to comply with squad cost ratio rules.

They could allow Broja out on loan to save on his salary, but a permanent sale is not going to make much sense at the sort of fee the ex-Vitesse man would command.

Armando Broja could benefit from a year in the Championship

Therefore, persevering with Broja could be the right approach for Burnley and the player.

Despite his struggles at Turf Moor, Broja is someone who has shown quality over the years, which is why he was at Chelsea.

At 6ft 3in, he is capable of causing problems for defenders with his physicality, and he has pace. So, Broja has the tools that you would want from a modern day number nine, and he has scored goals in the past, for Vitesse in the Eredivisie, and he had a decent spell with Southampton in the Premier League.

As outlined above, injuries have contributed to Broja’s struggles, and he just hasn't had the chance to get a good run of games, with his last prolonged spell as a regular starter coming in the 2021/22 campaign.

Loan spells with Fulham and Everton didn’t go to plan, and he hasn’t had the minutes he would’ve wanted with Burnley.

So, relegation may actually be beneficial for Broja, and it could be the chance he needs to really get his career going again.

It seems as though he has been around for a long time, but, at 24, he still hasn’t entered his peak years, which means time is on his side.

Burnley know better than most the difference in levels between the Championship and the Premier League, so, providing he can stay fit, Broja could be their main man moving forward.

If he can get a run in the team, and score goals, Broja’s confidence will come back, and playing at a lower level should give him the opportunity to do that.

Right now, the fee Burnley spent on Broja is one of the worst bits of business the club have done for a long time, but it’s far too soon to write the 35-cap international off.

Under the guidance of a new boss, Broja has time to change his story at Burnley, and, if he can help the club to promotion next season, the £20m won’t look anywhere near as bad given the riches that come with returning to the Premier League.