Sean Dyche is hopeful Armando Broja is close to his Everton debut, with the club hoping to fast-track the on-loan Chelsea forward’s return from injury.
Broja joined Everton late on deadline day but has not played since an achilles injury in pre-season that scuppered a proposed move to Ipswich. The 23-year-old remains unavailable for Saturday’s home game against Brentford but could feature in matches for the under-21s as he rebuilds fitness.
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The Everton manager said: “He has done enough with us here and we cannot really replicate the feeling of games, so I would prefer him for the 21s because it at least feels like a game. We are just discussing the next steps now. He has had a really strong week and a really strong rehab, so hopefully that allows us to fast‑track it a bit more than we normally would.”
Everton have an option to sign Broja on a permanent deal next summer and are in urgent need of more firepower. Dyche hopes the Albania international and Youssef Chermiti, another striker who has not featured this season owing to injury, will be available to address that problem before Christmas.
“We might get in front of that,” he said. “We will have to wait and see. It hasn’t been tough to be patient with him because you have no choice. Some type of injuries you think: ‘Come on, really?’ But with this we had to be careful because it was a tendon injury.”
Everton’s prospective new owner, the Friedkin Group, is awaiting Premier League approval on its bid to buy out Farhad Moshiri. Dyche says funds for reinforcements in the January window will probably remain tight unless that deal goes through before it opens.
“There is no news,” he said on the takeover. “So we are working to the current situation of the club which is being very, very sensible financially. If the Friedkin Group do get their hands on the club and get it done then things might change. But at the minute we are working to the guidelines that were there before.”
