West Ham United still in £25m chase for Ben Brereton Diaz
West Ham United are not letting their pursuit of Blackburn Rovers striker Ben Brereton Diaz die down, according to Claret and Hugh.
The Chilean international, who was actually born in Stoke-on-Trent, was in sensational form last season in the Championship as he scored 22 goals in 37 games for the Lancashire club.
The Irons are trying hard to sign Chelsea striker Armando Broja in the meantime after his breakthrough campaign in 2021-22 on loan at Southampton but Brereton Diaz remains an alternative option.
Claret and Hugh have been told by a source close to the player that West Ham would have to pay a fee of roughly £25million to sign the 23-year-old this summer as Blackburn hope that he can fire them to promotion from the second tier this season.
Brereton Diaz is one of the few who are not due to go to the World Cup in November as Chile failed to qualify from the South American group round-robin for the Qatar tournament.
Second choice
David Moyes will have spent hours deciphering the performances of Broja and Brereton Diaz with his recruitment and coaching team and there really isn’t much to separate the pair.
The Albanian didn’t score as many goals as the Chilean but he was playing Premier League football last year and is three years younger too which will be a factor in the decision-making process.
He might end up costing a few million quid more when all is said and done but West Ham United could also gain a further two or three years at the top of his game as a result which would make the extra costs worth it further down the line.
For that reason alone, Broja has to be our first choice striker at the moment and we need to do whatever is necessary to make the deal happen but we should not simply abandon Brereton Diaz.
We might need a good backup option to fall back on if the Albanian is kept on by Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge or another Premier League side beat us to the punch.