West Brom striker Daryl Dike labelled ‘future star’ by Ron Gourlay
West Brom are still waiting to see the best of American striker Daryl Dike having suffered from injuries since arriving from Orlando City in January.
The 21-year-old was working his way towards match fitness when he first arrived when he picked up a muscle problem against Peterborough United and he has only recently returned to training.
He was due to play for the Under-23s against Nottingham Forest on Monday but he felt uncomfortable beforehand and wasn’t risked.
Albion chief executive Ron Gourlay has lavished praise upon the American despite his belated start to life at The Hawthorns.
“You’ll not meet a nicer player,” Gourlay said, as quoted by the Express and Star. “His energy is unbelievable.
“He’s here every day, he works incredibly hard, he’s a joy to be around. His appearance back on the pitch will lift the whole team.
“Anybody who has any concerns that he came only because of Val – he left (Barnsley) and went on to have another career and do fantastically well for Orlando.
“It wasn’t just West Brom who were tracking Dike, but we were able to move quite quickly, like with (Alex) Mowatt, because of that link.
“I have no doubt that he’ll be a future star of the football club, and I think the fans think that too.”
Bring it on
If Gourlay is right, then we cannot wait to see this “future star” get closer to match fitness and produce the goods for the Baggies.
He might have troubled dislodging the in-form duo of Callum Robinson and Karlan Grant this season but he is quite the player to be brought off the bench in the meantime.
The long term goal with Dike is to have him lead the line with some tricky players around him as his technical and physical abilities lend themselves perfectly to being a focal point in attack.
The Baggies have no end of that kind of players to surround the 21-year-old and if it works as well as it sounds, then the future could be a very bright one for West Brom.
But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s just get him back to fitness and let him find his feet again in English football.
In other West Brom news, Sky Sports reporter Rob Dorsett provided a major update regarding one Albion player earlier today.