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Mauricio Pochettino has compared Armando Broja's situation to Harry Kane's early days at Tottenham and told the Chelsea striker not to let speculation about his future affect his form.
Chelsea, who host Aston Villa in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Friday night, are ready to listen to offers for Broja before the transfer window closes next Thursday. Fulham, Wolves and West Ham are all monitoring the 22-year-old, although there are doubts over whether anyone can afford his final purchase.
The risk of selling Broja is that it could leave Pochettino with no options up front in attack. Nicolas Jackson is representing Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations, Christopher Nkunku is struggling with a thigh injury and one of Chelsea's targets, Aston Villa's John Duran, is out for several weeks with an injury. The situation is uncertain and Pochettino, who hopes to sign Napoli's Viktor Osimha this summer, wants Broja to face the hype.
" It's part of business, part of football ," said the Chelsea coach. " In the end, you can't escape. If we want all the benefits of being at this club, Chelsea, we have to accept that it is a massive responsibility and this kind of thing can happen. You will always be judged. It is normal. It's our job.
If you want to be in this business and take responsibility for playing, you have to accept that this is the business. If you're a coach, staff or player and you don't have the capacity to handle the pressure, it's hard to be at the top. You can play football, but maybe not at this level ."
Broja, who has scored twice this season, is struggling to build momentum after returning from a knee injury. Pochettino looked back on his time at the Spurs and reflected on the development of Kane, who had to go out on loan before establishing himself as one of the best strikers in the world.
" The potential is great ," said Pochettino. " All great strikers need time. When they are young, they have to find their balance. But I believe he has the potential to be a great striker.
I always compare him to Harry Kane. He went on loan to Leyton Orient, Norwich and spent time finding his true balance. In our first six months he only started performing in December and January and that's when we started to see his real potential ," The Guardian reports.
Pochettino is trying to make Chelsea, who face Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final next month, more consistent. His new side are unbeaten in nine home games before taking on Aston Villa, who won 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League in September.
" Sometimes the players who are here, they are so young, that they believe they are the king of the world ," said the Argentine. " In a good way, without being arrogant, and then they understand during the period that it is up and down. They start to understand that if we want to be a real team and compete for big things, it's a process ."
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