Everton are eyeing Chelsea loan alternatives to facilitate Armando Broja’s return.
Broja’s season-long spell is expected to be cut short after he was ruled out for between 10 and 12 weeks with ankle ligament damage earlier this month.
The Londoners are understood to be seeking compensation for the remainder of the forward’s original deal to facilitate his early exit from Goodison Park.
All four of the Blues’ allocated loans for this season have been taken up by the stricken Albanian, Orel Mangala, Jesper Lindstrom and Jack Harrison.
But club officials are discussing a possible workaround to fill Broja’s loan spot with a player already at Stamford Bridge from David Moyes’ transfer wish list.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Carney Chukwuemeka have emerged as viable options after failing to force their way into Enzo Maresca’s regular plans.
Dewsbury-Hall has made just one Premier League start for Chelsea in Monday’s win over Wolves since a £30 million move from Leicester City.
Chukwuemeka, meanwhile, racked up an identical number in all competitions despite arriving to huge fanfare in a £20M deal from Aston Villa in 2022.
Moyes maintains that ‘no firm decision’ has been made on Broja’s future but admitted he has a checklist of several key areas to strengthen this month.
He said: “We’d like to add attacking players, maybe another midfield player if possible.
“But we’d like to strengthen at left-back, and maybe have another addition there if possible.
“I don’t know if I can fit all that in just now. We’ll see what we can do.”