October 17, (THEWILL) – Chelsea striker, Armando Broja, has been sent back to his club after complaining of discomfort whilst on international duty with Albania, manager Sylvinho has confirmed.
Broja suffered a serious knee injury last December, but made his return to action this season, making four appearances before being called up by Albania. However, he was unable to feature for his country as Sylvinho revealed he was not fit enough to play. The Albania boss has now provided more details on Broja’s fitness concerns.
“What happened to Broja is very straightforward – it stemmed from a serious prior injury which kept him off the pitch for nine months,” explained Sylvinho. “He returned a few weeks ago and played limited minutes in his first couple games. Then in the match before joining us, he played 45 minutes but was substituted due to some physical problems.”
Sylvinho added: “As usual, Chelsea did checks on him before he joined us and those were fine. But when training here, he still had some worries so we consulted our doctor and liaised with Chelsea about the injury. It was clear he could play but we agreed with the club and player that he should return to Chelsea for recovery.”
The international break has seen a few more injury worries for Chelsea, who face Arsenal on Saturday. Midfielder Cole Palmer and defender Axel Disasi picked up knocks on England U21 and France duty respectively. There are also concerns over summer signing Romeo Lavia, whose debut may now be in December as he battles multiple fitness issues.
On a positive note, defender Benoit Badiashile has returned to full training and captain Reece James could make his long-awaited injury comeback versus their London rivals the Gunners.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
