Thomas Tuchel rules out sale of Armando Broja
By Sean Walsh
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has insisted that Armando Broja will not be sold this summer.
90min understands that the Albanian striker is the subject of interest from Newcastle, West Ham and Southampton - where he spent last season on loan - while reports late on Friday stated David Moyes' side have made a fresh approach for his services.
However, Broja is part of Chelsea's squad that is touring the US as part of their pre-season preparations, and Tuchel has told reporters he is not for sale.
"Armando is our player first of all and we have, at the moment, no interest in selling him," Tuchel said. "He is here to make an impression after he was on loan in Southampton.
"That’s his situation from where we look up front. It’s good if there’s interest as it shows us there’s talent and potential. It shows us that he is in the position to impress and become a Chelsea player.
"When will he become a Chelsea player? No one knows but hopefully as soon as possible. He got injured and there’s a delay for him which is never nice because a young player should normally make an impression from the first minute in pre-season. Now we have a bit of a delay in that but that’s the situation."
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Broja picked up an Achilles injury in training recently and will not take part in their upcoming fixture against Club America.
Tuchel added: "He had a like a little accident yesterday in training with the ball control and landed funnily on his ankle and Achilles. He is in pain but nothing is injured - we did the examinations. He is lucky that he did not get injured.
"We are lucky and happy that he did not injure himself. He is in treatment."