Armando Broja suffers knee injury during 1-0 friendly defeat to Aston Villa

Chelsea have been handed another injury problem after Armando Broja was stretchered off in the first-half of their friendly against Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon

The 21-year-old had to be stretchered off in the 24th minute after colliding with Ezri Konsa having chased the defender down to close the ball down in Aston Villa’s box.

But as Broja landed on the ground, clear screams of pain were heard from the Albanian striker were heard, sparking fears that the injury, which is believed to be the knee which he was holding, could be serious.

Graham Potter is already dealing with many injuries – Kepa Arrizabalaga, Wesley Fofana, Reece James, Ben Chilwell N’Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek all missed out through injury, while Carney Chukwuemeka was also absent, indicating he is still on the road to recovery.

Chelsea will learn the extent of Broja’s injury over the coming days as they return to England to continue their preparations for the Premier League restart.

Potter will be desperate for the injury not to be serious, but if Broja’s reaction is anything to go by, then he could be facing some time on the sidelines.

Chelsea ended up losing the friendly in Abu Dhabi by a single goal following John McGinn’s 7th minute strike into the bottom corner.

Co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali were also in attendance to watch the team, which contained some first-teamers and many academy stars.

With the January transfer window three weeks away, should Broja be out for a considerable period the owners could have to make an acquisition in the market to aid Potter’s firepower in the forward area.