The young forward has two substitute appearances so far (Picture: Getty)
Marco Silva is confident on-loan Chelsea striker Armando Broja will have a role to play at Fulham this season but says he needs to earn a place in the starting XI.
The 22-year-old moved to Craven Cottage on deadline day in order to secure more regular football, with an injury to Raul Jimenez opening up a spot in the frontline for him.
But so far Rodrigo Muniz has been preferred to lead the line and he repaid his manager’s faith with a brace as the Cottagers saw off Bournemouth at the weekend.
Broja has been limited to two substitute appearances since his loan switch for a combined total of 32 minutes and he is yet to even attempt a shot on goal for his new club.
Despite Fulham potentially facing a bill of £4million if Broja does not start getting picked, Silva is in no rush to select the Albanian and says he has already spoken to the forward about the situation.
Asked whether Broja should expect competition to get in the side, the Fulham boss replied: ‘He knows that. I had a conversation yesterday with him about the situation, this is the Premier League.
‘He has a lot of potential, we really believe in him. He was a player we looked at last summer as well.
Broja is still waiting for his first start for Fulham (Picture: Getty)
‘He knows that there will be competition for places. He only arrived last week before the Burnley game.
‘The striker who played (Muniz) scored an important goal. It doesn’t matter if he is on a contract or if he is on loan.
‘Football players are not stupid. They can understand decisions. One way to deal with the situation is to work hard and show they are better than the other.’
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Fulham’s agreement with Chelsea is a so-called ‘pay-as-you-don’t-play’ deal, with the Cottagers having to pay the full £4m fee if Broja starts less than 60 per cent of their games.
Having been benched for the first two, that already means he needs to be picked in the starting XI in nine of Fulham’s remaining 14 Premier League fixtures.
Broja might potentially have played more regularly had he stayed at Chelsea – who lined up without a recognised striker last week in the FA Cup against Aston Villa – with the forward having played 13 times in the Premier League in the first half of the campaign for the Blues.
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