Fulham have seen a striker hit real heights in front of goal in 2024, but it probably has been the striker fans were expecting.
Fulham lost Aleksandar Mitrovic last summer and made a rather surprising addition up top as Raul Jimenez came in from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The Mexican failed to score a Premier League goal last season but recaptured some of his goalscoring touch earlier this term.
Fulham still wanted another striker in January, especially having sanctioned a loan move for Carlos Vinicius to join Galatasaray on loan.
In came Armando Broja before the transfer deadline as the Chelsea striker penned a loan deal until the end of the season.
We have barely seen the Albanian in action so far though as he has taken a back seat behind the red-hot form of Rodrigo Muniz.
Muniz has hit eight goals in his last nine Premier League games, making it incredibly difficult for Broja to get into the side.
Premier League admits striker miss
Broja’s time at Fulham has been a little tricky but it’s easy to forget that Fulham actually fought off competition for his signature.
Wolverhampton Wanderers were also in the race for Broja but the London Evening Standard claimed that he picked Fulham.
Wolves boss Gary O’Neil then told The Mirror that he was in talks with Chelsea over a loan deal but Wolves just couldn’t afford the move.
O’Neil has now doubled down on that take, telling the Express and Star that he had a Premier League striker lined up to come in.
“We had a Premier League number nine lined up to come in and help us and a fairly small amount of money stopped us doing it,” said O’Neil.
O’Neil is surely talking about Broja here and suggested that it would have cost a ‘small amount’ of money to bring him in.
Wolves couldn’t do the deal, allowing Fulham to pounce and keep Broja in West London as he traded Stamford Bridge for Craven Cottage.
Armando Broja may be wishing he had joined Wolves
Broja was hoping to play regularly and really develop his game at Fulham after a lack of first-team chances at Chelsea.
Muniz has been a big problem though, limiting Broja to just 49 minutes of Premier League football for Fulham across four substitute appearances.
Broja just can’t get into the team right now and may be wishing he had joined Wolves instead.
O’Neil is cursing his lack of attacking options and Broja surely would have played fairly regularly with a move to Molineux.
It just wasn’t to be for Wolves and Broja is now left wondering how on earth he can make an impact at Fulham before heading back to Chelsea, at which point his future will again be under the microscope.
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