Ex-Chelsea defender Glen Johnson believes Armando Broja should be called upon to replace recently departed striker Romelu Lukaku.
Lukaku has re-joined former club Inter Milan on a season-long loan deal following a disappointing last season at Chelsea.
Broja scored nine times in all competitions while out on loan at Southampton last season and Johnson says he deserves a chance in Blues boss Thomas Tuchel’s side.
“I think Chelsea are going to be reluctant to spend scary money again considering what happened with the Romelu Lukaku signing,” he told GGrecon.
“If it was up to me, then I’d give Armando Broja a chance rather than spending £80m on a replacement. I’d rather get it wrong with a player that I’ve already got, rather than get it wrong by spending £80m.
“Broja is technically good in front of goal but I don’t know how good he is yet. He did score some fantastic goals for Southampton but, let’s face it, Southampton aren’t Chelsea.
“He’s going to get more goal scoring opportunities at Chelsea and he’s technically good enough to score more next season.”
Chelsea are also on the lookout for defensive reinforcements following the departures of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen to Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively.
The club hold interest in Juventus centre-back Matthijs De Ligt and Sevilla’s Jules Kounde, but Johnson believes ex-Spurs man Toby Alderweireld, who currently plays for Qatari club Al-Duhail, should also be on Tuchel and owner Todd Boehly’s list of targets.
“It’s hard. I know it’s going to sound a bit out there but I would say Toby Alderweireld, who used to be at Tottenham,” he explained.
“He’s not going to cost much, he knows the Premier League, he’s a good footballer, and I think in a proper team he could surprise a lot of people.
“Other than that, I think it’s actually quite weak. If you had a gun to your head and someone said ‘outside of the obvious, who are the best three centre-backs in the world?’ I think it would be very difficult.”
