Brandon Thomas-Asante may now have weeks to save West Brom career as Ben Brereton Diaz transfer news emerges
West Brom are reportedly eyeing former Blackburn Rovers striker Ben Brereton Diaz ahead of the January window which may well be discouraging news for Brandon Thomas-Asante.
Online outlet TEAMtalk (6 November) reporting on their website shared that the Baggies are “keeping tabs” on the Villarreal and Chilean international striker with a view to making a possible move in the winter.
The Baggies are one of a number of teams hoping to take advantage as Villarreal are willing to sanction a loan move for the Chile international midseason who has struggled since his move from Blackburn, making just two starts so far in La Liga.
Premier League duo Crystal Palace and Burnley are reportedly on “red alert” over the availability of the 24-year-old, with the Albion and fellow Championship rivals Southampton also interested.
Diaz was highly sought-after during a “prolific” spell at Ewood Park, with 14 Championship goals last season and an impressive 22 goals the campaign before.
But his move to La Liga so far hasn’t borne any fruit with the Chilean goalless in 10 appearances across all competitions so far this season.
It remains to be seen whether the Baggies will look to win the race for Diaz, given the Premier League interest but the news certainly suggests that Corberan could well be eyeing up a consistent goalscorer to take them that one step closer to Premier League promotion.
Daryl Dike’s cursed luck has kept him out all season so far and while there are still high hopes for him it is starting to become less of an expectation in light of the problems he’s had since arriving from Orlando City.
Josh Maja has been out for over a month and has so far failed to pull up any trees since his free transfer arrival.
And then there is Thomas-Asante, whose goalscoring inconsistencies at The Hawthorns have proven an ongoing problem for the Spaniard.
The 24-year-old certainly hasn’t enjoyed the best of form, scoring just three goals from his 13 Championship appearances so far this campaign (WhoScored) – and before his last strike in the 2-0 win over Coventry City on 30 October, his last goal came in the 4-2 win over Middlesbrough at the end of August.
Thomas-Asante certainly has the ability to be a West Brom regular, possessing great pace and technical acumen to trouble defences as he showed against the Sky Blues.
The former Salford City man certainly possesses all the necessary attributes to become the striker he knows he can become but he needs to find the back of the net with great regularity if he is to match it with some of the Championship’s best strikers.
But his current record of three goals in 13 games certainly throws up so much doubt over his ability to lead the Baggies to promotion glory come May, and with Diaz’s availability now possibly emerging in January, Thomas-Asante may have eight weeks to prove to Corberan he is the man to lead the club and save his career at The Hawthorns.
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