Carlton Palmer expects Daryl Dike to score ’20 goals’ for West Brom next season
Carlton Palmer believes that striker Daryl Dike will have a big impact at West Brom in the 2022-23 campaign.
The USA international joined the Baggies in the January transfer window from Major League Soccer club Orlando City SC in a deal worth £7.77 million.
However, Dike could not really get going and only managed two appearances in the Championship before the season came to an end through injury.
Palmer, while talking to Football League world, believes that the 22-year-old will have an impactful season for West Brom.
“He’s [Dike] proven that at Barnsley that he can score goals in the Championship,” he said. “Unfortunately, they brought him in at Christmas, or just after Christmas, and he’d been playing in a league that you know, it wouldn’t require the fitness that he would require in the league to play in the championship, and unfortunately with that, he picked up a hamstring injury.
“He will have a good pre-season under his belt and I expect him to be up there you know (with) 20 goals for the season.
“But what they’ve got to do, as I said before, you need two or three strikers who are going to get you 20 goals, and you can’t just rely on one striker.”
Optimism
The Baggies had a disappointing 2021-22 season in the Championship where a number of players failed to live up to the expectations and Dike was one of them.
In his last season at Orlando City and the lone season at Barnsley, the striker scored 20 goals and made 30 starts. [Whoscored]
During his time at the Hawthorns, he is yet to replicate this form since signing for the club during Christmas as he struggled with fitness concerns.
Steve Bruce has shown full trust in his striker and believes he can capture his goalscoring form again.
The biggest strength of Dike is his pace. He can get in behind any defence and create problems for the defenders marking him.
This is an advantage for Bruce considering he believes in creating a defensive structure for his attackers to thrive.
Whenever West Brom recycle possession, they can use their midfielders to send balls into the channels for the former Orlando City striker. He has got great stamina, which means he always keeps the opponent’s defenders on their toes.
In other West Brom news, Albion also want to sign this central midfielder who’s valued at over £15million.
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