West Ham United lead race for £15million transfer of Blackburn Rovers striker Ben Brereton Diaz
West Ham are in pole position to sign Blackburn striker Ben Brereton Diaz in the summer after his club missed out on promotion, according to Alan Nixon.
David Moyes was previously linked to the Chile forward in the January transfer window and is still looking for help at the position as a priority.
Rovers finished eighth in the Championship, six points outside the playoffs, and are moving on from manager Tony Mowbray.
According to Nixon in The Sun and on his Patreon, the Hammers could take advantage of Brereton Diaz being in the final year of his contract, making his sale more likely.
The Sun report says: “Brereton will cost around £15million but his versatility, playing wide of a three and through the middle, appeals to Moyes.
“But the Scottish boss is facing a lot of competition to land his man.
“The Stoke-born striker has other admirers and is interested in a move abroad.”
Sevilla are reportedly long-term admirers, but on Patreon Nixon says the Irons would be a “dream move” for the “red-hot” striker, who has scored 22 Championship goals this season.
Another one
It is no secret that Moyes wants a striker, with Michail Antonio the lone option at the position.
The club appeared to be in for a whole host of goal scorers in January but were unable to secure any, and look to have fallen down the pecking order for the likes of Benfica’s Darwin Nunez and Reims teenager Hugo Ekitike.
On-loan Chelsea striker Armando Broja (The Sun) is also in their sights for the summer, but again they face a struggle to get past Southampton for his signature if he is even available.
The 23-year-old Brereton Diaz is finally an option where it is the Irons who are in the ascendency, and for that price it would not represent a major risk.
The Chile international has more than proven himself in the second tier, and while that is no guarantee of goals in the Premier League he is also a one-in-three scorer for his country.
The club badly needs more firepower, with no real option to turn to after Antonio had run himself into the ground in Frankfurt on Thursday (5 May), so following this race to its conclusion makes a lot of sense, before potentially even adding another.
In other West Ham news, another target is in “advanced” talks with two other clubs.
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