Blackburn Rovers star Ben Brereton Diaz is a transfer target for Tottenham Hotspur for the January window. But the striker endured a miserable time as the Championship resumed.
Preston North End beat Jon Dahl Tomasson’s promotion-chasers 4-1 at Ewood Park on Saturday. It was both sides’ first match since the second-tier hit pause for the World Cup in Qatar. Yet Brereton Diaz had no complaints as his afternoon came to a halt on 58 minutes.
Tomasson hooked the Chile star inside the opening hour whilst only 2-1 down and minutes after he assisted Bradley Dack. The 23-year-old set his strike partner up to tap in at close-range. But Brereton Diaz had given Dack no real support for much of his time on the pitch.
Brereton Diaz drifted wide far too regularly during the Championship match to leave Dack isolated. So much so, in fact, that WhoScored did not register the former as taking a single shot. Brereton Diaz also did not attempt a single dribble and lost out in his only aerial duel.
Preston centre-half Jordan Storey, on the other hand, won each of his two defensive aerial duels on Brereton Diaz’s side. Liam Lindsay also won each of his two from the heart of the Lilywhites’ line. Dack, meanwhile, also lost with his only offensive aerial duel for Blackburn.
Blackburn’s Brereton Diaz won’t win a transfer to Tottenham with poor displays
Scouts for a host of Premier League clubs attended a raft of Blackburn’s games before the World Cup to track Brereton Diaz. Per 90min, Tottenham – as well as Aston Villa, Brighton, Crystal Palace, Wolves and West Ham – were studying his potential for a mid-season deal.
Brereton Diaz is out of contract at the end of the season and Rovers are undecided on his immediate future. They are aware he could help fire Tomasson’s team to promotion. But the Ewood Park outfit would be accepting that he leaves for free by keeping him for now.
Although The Sun also reports Brereton Diaz is also happy to stay at Blackburn in January over a transfer, despite Tottenham’s interest. He would then have his pick of clubs in the summer when La Liga side Villarreal sense they could beat Spurs and West Ham for a deal.
Tottenham will not be rushing to secure Brereton Diaz’s transfer in January if his Blackburn form does not return. He has scored nine goals and two assists in 22 Championship outings this term. The striker Tony Mowbray called ‘extraordinary’ also hit one in two EFL Cup ties.
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