Steve Bruce to urge USA to leave West Brom ace Daryl Dike at home
West Brom have seen very little of Daryl Dike since his big-money move from Orlando City in January with injuries plaguing his return to England.
The 21-year-old has been ruled out for the rest of this season and Steve Bruce is ready to offer him whatever he needs to get back to full fitness for the 2022/23 campaign.
Dike is already a United States international and the USMNT (United States Men’s National Team) have some arranged games during the summer that Dike could be available for.
Bruce though is hoping to enter conversations with the USMNT to stop Dike from being selected so he can properly recover from these persistent injuries.
“We’re going to have to have that conversation with the USA because he is still not right,” Bruce said, as quoted by Birmingham Live.
“To ask him, when he’s been out for four months, to go and play in a game without any pre-season… we’ll have those conversations with the relevant people. That’s on my agenda this week and the beginning of next week.
“It’s just not right for him to be anywhere near it. As we speak now he is still not fit. We’re doing everything we can to give him a chance for next year so I hope common sense will prevail.”
Rest
After such a tortuous second half of the season at The Hawthorns, the last thing Dike needs right now is to be rushed back to play for his country.
Bruce is absolutely right to be asking for common sense from the USMNT because if he does go and play, you can practically guarantee he will return to the Midlands injured even worse than he is right now.
We have to keep reminding ourselves that these are not machines we are working with but human beings and a quick fix doesn’t exist when it comes to injuries.
If he does stay on the sofa rather than run himself ragged for his national side, he should be raring to go for the new season and that will be a benefit to both West Brom and the States.
There is a World Cup to worry about in November and Dike is crucial to the USA’s chances as their leading man upfront so they might have to accept the Baggies’ request if they want him to be in Qatar.
In other West Brom news, Adrian Chiles has got an Albion badge in a rather peculiar place in his house.
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