Chelsea’s Broja Suffers Serious Injury as Potter’s Problems Compound

• Chelsea went down to Aston Villa in a mid-season friendly game in Abu Dhabi on December 11th
• The club will be awaiting further scans on the extent of the injury of Albanian striker Armando Broja
• The London-based club had suffered a major dip in form before the World Cup break as they currently languish in eighth place

Chelsea Head Coach Graham Potter suffered a serious setback when striker Armando Broja picked up a serious injury in Abu Dhabi.

The Blues are currently in the United Arab Emirates for some warm-weather training as they prepare for the resumption of the Premier League in two weeks' time.

They took on Aston Villa in their first friendly game at the Al Nahyan Stadium. Unai Emery's men raced to an early 1-0 lead courtesy of a John McGinn strike.

Chelsea's problems went from bad to worse when young striker Broja went down clutching his knee and screaming in pain. He had to be stretchered off the pitch with Dion Rankine taking his place.

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Possible ACL injury

Dr Rajpal Brar, a sports scientist and physical movement doctor has claimed that the injury could possibly be an anterior cruciate ligament injury with the 18-year-old now facing a long time out.

Speaking after the match, Potter claimed that it doesn't 'look positive.'

"It was an unfortunate action, he got caught with their player in the ground. It does not look positive at the moment but it’s too early to say. We have our fingers crossed but it’s an awkward one," as quoted by Goal.

Broja's injury leaves Chelsea with only two strikers ahead of a busy schedule.

Chelsea lost the game 1-0 after fielding largely a reserve team. Apart from Broja, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Jorginho and Marc Cucurella were the only members of the first team. Trevoh Chalobah was an unused substitute.

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Chelsea's underwhelming season

Potter will be desperate to get Chelsea's campaign back on track when the top-flight league resumes. Despite initially starting well, the former Brighton boss has found the going difficult in recent times losing four games out of five before the World Cup break.

They resume with clashes against promoted sides Bournemouth and Nottingham Forrest before back-to-back clashes against Manchester City.

Chelsea interested in Jadon Sancho

Sports Brief had earlier reported that Chelsea are reportedly interested in the signing of Manchester United flop Jadon Sancho.

Sancho has failed to leave a mark at Old Trafford since his return to the Premier League from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2021.

Prior to the move, the Englishman had made a name for himself in the German topflight thanks to his incredible spell with Dortmund.