Burnley have completed the signing of Chelsea striker Armando Broja – bringing some much-needed bolstering to their forward line.

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The 23-year-old joins the Clarets for an undisclosed fee, signing a five-year contract with Scott Parker’s men.

The striker trained with his new Burnley teammates at Gawthorpe today and could feature against Lazio on Saturday.

Broja spent last season on loan with Everton but was limited to making just 11 appearances during an injury-hit spell, also failing to register.

The striker also played just eight games on loan at Fulham during the second half of the 2023/24 campaign, again without scoring.

He scored nine times in 38 games on loan at Southampton in 2021/22, while hitting double figures with 10 goals for Vitesse Arnhem the previous year.

Since signing for Chelsea in 2019, Broja has two goals to his name from 37 appearances. He’s also been capped 27 times by Albania, scoring five times.

Broja has signed a five-year contract with the Clarets (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

Despite being born to Albanian parents, Broja was actually born in Slough and began his academy career with Tottenham before making the move over to Stamford Bridge.

The Clarets have been badly in need of a striker for some time now, going back at least two seasons.

The man who led the line last season, Zian Flemming, has missed a good chunk of Burnley’s pre-season with a knock, although he is now back in training. The Dutchman is predominately a number 10, rather than an out-and-out striker – although he did bag 16 goals in the Championship last season.

Eyebrows were raised when Lyle Foster was handed the number nine shirt that had been left vacant since Jay Rodriguez made the move to Wrexham back in January.

The South African international only scored twice in the second tier last season as the Clarets won automatic promotion back to the Premier League.

Experienced number nine Ashley Barnes also provides backup after signing on for another year, but Zeki Amdouni is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines after being forced to undergo surgery.

Michael Obafemi, meanwhile, is expected to move on this summer.

Broja becomes Burnley’s ninth summer signing of the summer and the third this week, following Lesley Ugochukwu and Martin Dubravka.

Max Weiss, Axel Tuanzebe, Kyle Walker, Quildinschy Hartman, Jacob Bruun Larsen and Loum Tchouana have also arrived.

Four of last season’s loanees – Bashir Humphreys, Jaidon Anthony, Marcus Edwards and Flemming – have all become permanent additions too.

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