West Brom have recently been credited with an interest in Villarreal and Chile striker Ben Brereton Diaz.
Brereton Diaz, 24, sealed a pre-contract move from Blackburn Rovers to Villarreal in the summer, after a couple of prolific Championship campaigns with Rovers.
But in Spain, the striker is yet to score in nine La Liga appearances and a recent report from TEAMtalk revealed that a number of English clubs, including West Brom, are keen on a January loan swoop.
Ben Brereton Diaz, the story so far
Born in Stoke-on-Trent, Brereton Diaz spent time with the likes of Manchester United, Stoke City, and Nottingham Forest as a youth player, with the latter eventually giving him his breakthrough.
He played two seasons with Forest before Blackburn Rovers paying upwards of £7million for his services in 2018.
His first two seasons at Ewood Park were injury-stricken. But he came to life in the 2020/21 season and then burst into life in the 2021/22 campaign, scoring 22 goals and announcing himself as a prolific no.9.
Interesting in his services grew whilst he also became a cult hero with the Chilean national side, after discovering his eligibility to play for the South American nation.
He eventually left Blackburn Rovers as a free agent, though again, his move to Spain hasn’t worked out so far.
Ben Brereton Diaz player profile
- Age: 24
- Date of birth: 18/04/1999
- Position: Striker/winger
- Club: Villarreal
- Former clubs: Nottingham Forest, Blackburn Rovers
- Nationality: Chilean/English
- Citizenship: English
- Contract: Until June 2027
Ben Brereton Diaz, what they say
Brereton Diaz played under a couple of top managers at Blackburn in Tony Mowbray and Jon Dahl Tomasson.
Both managers favour stacking football and both contributed massively to Brereton Diaz’s eventual rise to the Spanish top flight.
During the striker’s standout 2021/22 seasons, Mowbray said of Brereton Diaz:
“I’m just delighted for Ben, he’s a lad we signed at 18 and he’s only 22 now. He’s taken a bit of flak over those years, as we spent £6million on him from Nottingham Forest but now, he has come to fruition.
“He is a man, he has grown up, he feels as if he can use his body and he knows how to score goals.”
Brereton Diaz often came under criticism at Blackburn; like Mowbray says, because the club paid a lot of money for him, and later under Tomasson during spells of inconsistency.
Despite scoring 14 goals last time round, there were large spells where Brereton Diaz wasn’t performing, with many attributing it to the fact that he was playing a lot of football with Chile, often undertaking long-haul flights to South America.
After a poor individual performance vs Hull City last time round, Tomasson said of Brereton Diaz:
“I think Ben has scored a lot of goals for us this season and he could have had a couple of goals today as well if we had done some of the right choices. He will do his best for Rovers, he’s a great lad.”
How Brereton Diaz fits in
Brereton Diaz started out as more of a winger but eventually became a prolific, somewhat old school no.9.
Come January, West Brom will have an improved set of strikers with Daryl Dike and Josh Maja returning, taking the strain off Brandon Thomas-Asante who is currently the only fit no.9.
On the flanks, Carlos Corberan‘s options are also pretty light with the likes of Matt Phillips, Jed Wallace, and Grady Diangana the key options, with the likes of Jeremy Sarmiento yet to really kick on since his loan move from Brighton.
So whilst West Brom have quality in attack, they don’t have too much depth, and given the Baggies‘ recent luck with injuries, Corberan won’t count on everyone staying fit.
Ben Brereton Diaz to West Brom analysis
It’s certainly an interesting link.
Brereton Diaz showed his Championship class in the previous two seasons and given how it’s not panned out for him in Spain, and given his contract length at Villarreal, a temporary return to England makes sense.
It’ll be a return to a more familiar league for the striker and he’ll have no doubt learned a lot in his first half seaosn at Spain, so he could return as an even better player.
For the Baggies, attacking additions, and ones of quality, may be required in January, though the question is whether the club can finance a loan deal for Brereton Diaz.
Off-field issues persist and with takeover talk in the air, the club might have more pressing issues on their plate in January.
But Corberan would certainly get use out of Brereton Diaz who he could play in a number of roles, almost using him as a utility player in whatever position is needed.