Premier League outfit Leeds United would seize the chance to sign Ben Brereton Diaz on a free transfer when his contract at Championship high-flyers Blackburn Rovers expires next summer, according to the Daily Mail.
Leeds and many others, one would imagine.
Blackburn’s prohibitive £15 million asking price succeeded in scaring off suitors before September’s transfer deadline. But, with his contract expiring in less than 12 months’ time, the Stoke-born Chile international now looks all-but certain to leave Ewood Park, if not for nothing, then for a reduced fee in the winter window.
According to The Sun, Blackburn plan to offer Brereton-Diaz fresh terms. Whether he accepts remains to be seen. Much will depend, you’d suspect, on whether Rovers can build on a promising start to the season under Danish legend Jon Dahl Tomasson.
Blackburn are currently seventh in the table. And many at Ewood Park will know, deep down, that their hopes of retaining arguably the EFL’s most talented forward beyond the summer of 2023 will depend largely on whether or not a return to the Premier League can be secured.
Will Leeds United really sign Ben Brereton Diaz for free?
Leeds United, The Mail say, will offer Brereton-Diaz a top-flight chance if Blackburn cannot. La Liga trio Villarreal, Valencia and Celta Vigo, meanwhile, plan to watch the former Nottingham Forest youngster this week. Chile are due to face Morocco in a friendly in Barcelona.
“The starting point is his work rate,” former Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray says of Brereton Diaz; highlighting the 23-year-old’s tenacity as well as his technique. “He’s a kid who works his socks off for this team, up and down, up and down.”
“He’s working extraordinarily hard. The physical output has been amazing really.
“The fact that he’s developing his finishing technique…I saw somewhere this week, he was talking about how hard he works coming in off that left on his right foot and trying to bend balls in the far corner or reverse them back into the near post.
“I’m just delighted he’s getting the rewards for all the hard work he does.”
Having scored 22 times last season, Brereton Diaz has four already in 2022/23.
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