Chelsea ended the January transfer window without signing any player but were willing to let Armando Broja join Fulham on loan until the end of the current campaign.
However, the Blues wanted to sign another striker and were linked with interest in Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran.
According to Italian transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea discussed a swap deal which would have seen Broja move to Villa Park and Duran join them.
However, the injury the Colombian sustained thwarted the deal, and the Blues opted to go ahead without landing a striker despite letting their academy graduate leave.
“There was a possibility for a swap deal,” Romano revealed on the latest edition of The Here We Go Podcast.
“Armando Broja to Aston Villa, Jhon Duran to Chelsea. It was just discussed internally. So it was never close. It was never a proper negotiation.
“But it was discussed internally at both clubs as a possibility. Then the injury of Jhon Duran made everything impossible. So they decided not to proceed. But they were considering the possibility because basically, they wanted Armando Broja to go and play on loan. But also to Aston Villa as they did with Fulham when they closed the deal, they wanted an important loan fee for Armando Broja, and Aston Villa couldn’t guarantee that because they already have a top striker like Ollie Watkins.
“So, basically what happened is that Chelsea decided to leave the early conversations, but it wasn’t an advanced and concrete negotiation because they were happy to let Armando Broja leave on loan and continue with the current squad.”
The return of Christopher Nkunku from injury made the Blues decide that the Albanian international could leave, and they also have Nicolas Jackson available following the end of Senegal’s AFCON campaign.
They also decided against activating Victor Osimhen’s £110 million release clause in January, but the Nigeria international is likely to be among Chelsea’s top targets in the summer, when the club may find his release clause more palatable if they can earn money on sales.
Landing a striker remains top of their plans, but Financial Fair Play issues prevented them from going after the Napoli star last month, and they will be desperate to make sure things improve as they look to balance the books in the coming months.
