Seagulls join orderly queue for Chile’s hottest striker

The striker formerly known as Ben Brereton has been making many headlines at the start of the 2021-22 season and not just because he’s the most unlikely Chilean international of recent years.

Born in Stoke-on-Trent to an English father and Chilean mother, he is now officially called Ben Brereton Diaz and is enjoying a prolific campaign for Blackburn Rovers.

“DSC00380” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by joncandy

16 goals in his first 21 games of the season have seen the 22-year-old linked with a January move to a Premier League club and Brighton are believed to be firmly in the queue.

Productive Start
All of those 16 goals have come in the Championship where Blackburn are currently sitting in a playoff place. Included in that haul is a hat trick against Cardiff City and, while Rovers received a reality check via a 7-0 thumping at home to league leaders Fulham, the club are firmly targeting a return to the Premier League.

Will Brereton Diaz remain at Ewood Park with a view to finishing the job? The striker is clearly pivotal to Rovers’ aims but there are rumours of a switch to the Premier League when the transfer window opens again in January. Brighton are linked but so are Leeds United, Southampton, Burnley and Newcastle United.

Short Term Targets
The issue for Blackburn is that if Ben Brereton Diaz leaves in January, their promotion hopes will be dashed unless they can sign an adequate replacement. Fulham and Bournemouth are starting to pull away at the top but Rovers are comfortably in the playoff slots for now.

Behind the top two, online sports betting sites put Blackburn up among the favourites for promotion, along with the likes of West Brom, Queens Park Rangers and Stoke City. Figures are supplied by sbo.net and they will update the odds across the remainder of a long season.

Along with other football markets, sbo.net also supply news and opinion articles for those who want to study the Championship in greater detail. There will also be opportunities to stake in those markets for anyone wanting to back Blackburn Rovers or any other side.

Each recommended sportsbook accepts new registrations and there are generous welcome packages on the table in most places. Ongoing promotions can follow after sign up while each bookmaker can provide a choice of funding options plus effective customer service.

Blackburn will certainly retain interest if they can keep hold of their main striker but is a departure likely in the next few weeks?

Rhodes Well Travelled
Every Premier League side will be wary of pinning their hopes on a Championship striker. There has been a host of previously prolific forwards from the second tier who have failed to replicate their returns at the highest level.

In fact, a former Blackburn attacker offers a prime example. Jordan Rhodes averaged at better than a goal every other game at Ewood Park and he enjoyed a similar record at League One Huddersfield Town.

Rhodes’ only experience of the Premier League came in 2016-17 where he failed to find the net in six matches with Middlesbrough.

Could Ben Brereton Diaz be different? Clearly he’s impressed throughout the early exchanges of 2021-22 but, prior to this year, his scoring record has been a modest one. In two seasons with his first club Nottingham Forest, the player scored just nine times in 57 matches.

A move to Ewood Park followed in 2018, initially as a loan deal before the transfer became permanent. Blackburn clearly saw some potential but, prior to this campaign, Brereton Diaz had scored nine goals in 72 games for his new club.

There has, therefore, been a transformation and that could have coincided with his unlikely international call up. Brereton Diaz made use of his lineage to claim a place in the Chile squad where three goals in his first nine games represents a decent start to his international career.

Is he ready for a step up to the top level? There are several Premier League sides in need of an in-form striker and Brighton are one of them given the Seagulls’ troubles in converting chances.

In all probability, Brereton Diaz will become available in the summer at the earliest but would he be a good fit for Graham Potter’s squad?