Premier League outfit Spurs have reportedly enquired about signing Real Madrid’s La Liga benchwarmer Mariano Diaz.
On his day, there was no striker in world football more fearsome than Didier Drogba.
Chelsea’s number 11 was not only built like a heavyweight boxer, he had the speed of a world-class athlete too. Then there was the thunderous shots, the bullet headers, the pinpoint free-kicks and the big-game mentality that inspired The Blues to a variety of titles and cups and made him one of the biggest legends in the history of Stamford Bridge.
So it’s fair to say Mariano Diaz has a long way to go before he can match the exploits of Drogba. But the raw potential, and the formidable skill set, is there already.
And with Ok Diario in Spain claiming that Tottenham Hotspur have asked about signing the player who inherited Cristiano Ronaldo’s number seven shirt at Real Madrid, the Premier League’s next Didier Drogba could soon be terrorising defences and embarrassing goalkeepers in white rather than blue.
It would be incredibly harsh to judge Mariano on his ill-fated return to the Bernabau last summer. He made just 19 appearances, played less than 600 minutes and scored four goals. But a stunning campaign at Lyon in 2017/18 meant that, at the time, few were questioning Real’s decision to bring their former academy graduate back.
Mariano plundered 21 goals for Lyon and, tellingly, they were all so very different. There were stunning headers, showcasing a leap Ronaldo himself would have been proud off, poacher’s specials from the six yard box and explosive, lethal strikes from the edge of the box.
French football hadn’t seen a young centre-forward striker this exciting since Drogba made his name in Marseille. And, interestingly, 25-year-old Mariano is one year younger than Drogba was when Chelsea made that brilliant decision to invest £24 million back in 2004.
15 years on, is his successor bound for Tottenham?
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
