Southampton in contact with Chelsea over Armando Broja future

Saints’ top goalscorer this season, 20-year-old Broja, is currently set to return to Blues at the end of the campaign and fight for his place with the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner and Kai Havertz.

However, Hasenhuttl had earlier insisted that Saints are going to see what they can do to keep the promising youngster at the club beyond that – and ideally on a permanent basis.

"Martin (Semmens) is in close contact with Marina (Granovskaia) and they will definitely find the right words and the right conversations,” Hasenhuttl said, when asked if discussions had already been taking place over the Albanian international’s future.

Chelsea Director Marina Granovskaia (left) and Chairman Bruce Buck (Pic: PA)

“Everyone has their interests, this is normal in this business, but we must find a decision that is best for everybody."

Hasenhuttl was then presented with the idea whether Broja may come on a second consecutive season-long loan at St Mary’s.

"We will find a solution that is hopefully the best for the player and also for us,” he added. “There are various options that you can talk about.

“The most important thing is that the player knows what he has to do. I think that he knows very clear what he has with us at this club and that he feels super good here, everyone knows that.

“He knows Tino, he knows Dynel from Chelsea, he gets on well with Will (Smallbone) and Nathan Tella, it’s a young group.

Armando Broja and Tino Livramento are close pals from Chelsea's academy (Pic: Stuart Martin)

“This isn't about money, it is about feeling comfortable and getting a good atmosphere to develop your game and to get better and better.”

He continued: “There are a lot of talks to be had but Martin is on this and Broja should concentrate on this game.

“It’s a job for us as a club but also his people around him. I know that his family is very keen that he is with us and they have absolutely confirmed that he should stay longer with us.

“Then it’s also about Chelsea and what they want.”

With every passing performance, Broja’s stock increases as he shows further calmness in front of goal and inventiveness all over the opposition third.

Armando Broja scored his fifth Premier League goal of the season versus Brentford (Pic: Stuart Martin)

Hasenhuttl was asked if acquiring his permanent signature gets harder with every quality showing.

“I don’t know if it becomes harder,” he insisted. “In the summer it was impossible for us to get him here because we didn’t have the money.

“We would also have a different situation if in the summer we immediately paid massive money for him because then the expectation is a completely different one.

“When he came here, he was definitely not on the level to help us immediately. He took a lot of time to develop his game in the sessions, to learn and get better.

“If you pay a lot of money then you think the player can help you immediately. The pressure is a different one on this player then.

Ralph Hasenhuttl has fielded constant questions on Armando Broja over the last week (Pic: PA)

“There are lot of examples in the Premier League where young players cost massive money and then don’t make the step through because the pressure is too much.”

Hasenhuttl added: “So it was the perfect situation for him to develop in all this calmness we have at the club, make the next step, get a few minutes here and there, showing up here and there, getting a chance to score and now he does it.

“He is still a very young lad who is still learning and we have to be careful not to overwhelm him with expectations or other things.”