‘Interesting one’ – West Brom make decision on youngster ‘who is going to score goals’
West Brom academy chief Richard Stevens has confirmed that striker Cheikh Diaby could go out on loan after Christmas as he looks to rebuild his fitness.
Academy football has suffered significant disruption this year and Stevens admitted that the 20-year-old had been impacted more than others.
The striker joined the Baggies in October 2019 after starting his professional career with French side Le Havre.
“Cheikh took a couple of months to get up to speed because he’d missed a couple of months of football,” Stevens said (via Express and Star).
“We were just getting him to what we thought was his fighting best, and then lockdown happened. Cheikh was one of the last to come back in, because of the restrictions in France and the two-week quarantine here.
“He’s just catching up now. He missed pre-season because of those restrictions. He’s a powerful boy, he’s going to score goals, he’s going to give defences a problem because of his physicality. He’s got plenty to develop but he’s an interesting one. He could maybe do with a loan, maybe after Christmas, because he could do with getting some exposure somewhere.”
Despite being a player that the club clearly rate, Diaby remains a way off challenging for first team action until he gets more minutes under his belt.
So far this season he has scored two goals in five Premier League 2 appearances and the next stage in his development involves making an impact at the senior level (via Transfermarkt).
Diaby is said to have caught Slaven Bilic’s eye during his trial and even came close to joining Valencia, with his power and eye for goal said to be his main qualities (via Birmingham Mail).
As with most players of this age, it is very difficult to project onto them for the future, but as a 20-year-old it is fair to say that regular football will be an important part in Diaby’s development.
Finding the right club at the right level for a loan move is crucial, and the club need to be wary of how much game time he can be expected to enjoy.
In other West Brom news, View: Why West Brom star tipped to be ‘top, top player’ is crucial v Man United