Armando Broja hands Mauricio Pochettino huge pre-season fitness boost as Andrey Santos ‘confirms’ new Chelsea signing

Armando Broja stepped up his return from an ACL injury after reporting back to Cobham along with many of the Chelsea first-team players for pre-season.

After rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in December 2022 during a mid-season friendly against Aston Villa in Abu Dhabi, Broja has been working his way back to full fitness.

He arrived back at Chelsea‘s Cobham training base prior to Tuesday to continue his recovery to full fitness. But the 21-year-old was pictured in the training session that was overseen by head coach Mauricio Pochettino and his backroom team.

It will come as a welcome boost for Pochettino seeing Broja on the grass, with the Chelsea attack bolstered this summer with the additions of Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson.

Meanwhile, youngsters Andrey Santos and Cesare Casadei, two of many youthful signings over the last 12 months, were both involved at Cobham on Tuesday after their Under-20 World Cup campaigns.

Santos is set to welcome a fellow Brazilian to Stamford Bridge after Chelsea reached a deal with Brazilian side Santos to sign 18-year-old Angelo Gabriel, who will join on a reported initial five-year contract in a deal worth around €15 million.

As reported by Fabrizio Romano, Angelo will travel to England this week to finalise his transfer to Stamford Bridge, with the teenager expected to join RC Strasbourg, who were recently acquired by Chelsea’s owners to begin their multi-club project.

After taking part in Chelsea training on Tuesday, Andrey Santos took to Instagram to express his excitement at the upcoming season.

Angelo Gabriel replied with two love hearts, which saw Santos respond with “see you soon”, confirming that a transfer is now imminent.