Latest Opinion

He’s the hottest striker in the Championship and it’s no great surprise to see Blackburn Rovers’ Ben Brereton Diaz linked with a move to a Premier League club in January.

After a modest career in the second tier, the 22-year-old seems to have been galvanised by an unlikely international call up from the Chilean national team.




In 2021/22, Brereton Diaz has scored 17 goals in his first 22 league games. Several top-flight English sides have been mentioned in terms of an approach but is the London Stadium a serious destination?


Compare and Contrast

If you believe any of the rumours, West Ham and Leeds United are the two clubs most likely to battle for Brereton Diaz in the 2022 winter transfer window. Many Hammers fans would argue that this is simply a measure of the press not taking their team too seriously due to the relative positions of the two clubs.

While West Ham are firmly engaged in a fight for the European places, Leeds are at the other end of the table, struggling in a relegation scrap. It immediately led to some supporters calling out the stories and suggesting that the striker simply isn’t good enough for the next level but is that a fair assessment?


Logical Targets

As a minimum aim, West Ham United will be looking to get back among the European places for next season. That’s likely to require a top six finish and it’s looking good at this stage of the season. As the Hammers head into the festive fixture list, they sit in fifth place, four points off Arsenal who currently occupy the final Champions League slot.

It’s therefore a little disappointing to see the best betting sites linked to sbo.net have West Ham as mere seventh favourites to finish inside the top six at the end of the 2021/22 season. In front of them are the usual suspects such as Liverpool, Chelsea and the two Manchester clubs but Arsenal and Spurs may consider themselves lucky to squeeze ahead based on current form.

As the campaign progresses, those figures will be updated to reflect latest results as they come in. Sbo.net’s bookies will amend the odds and hopefully the Hammers will shorten as they close in on the European places.

Readers can also take in some news and opinion and they can take their interest in the markets further if they wish. Every bookmaker on the panel is open to new customers and most will publish a generous welcome package. A selection of deposit and withdrawal options are also in place while efficient customer service and the possibility of live streaming football matches are among the other advantages.

West Ham have a capable squad which will be targeting those European places but would their aims seem more likely with the arrival of Ben Brereton Diaz?


Second Tier Warnings

The Championship has been littered in recent years by competent strikers who can’t make the step up to the Premier League. Illustrations can be found via Teemu Pukki of Norwich and Fulham’s Aleksandr Mitrovic who have very contrasting records for their clubs between the first and second tiers.

Concerns over Brereton Diaz would be natural but he is only 22 and, if he did arrive at the London Stadium, he wouldn’t be facing a relegation battle at a weaker club. In all probability, his role here would be to start on the bench and to continue his development and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s not as though the current Blackburn centre forward would be solely relied upon to score the goals needed to keep West Ham in the top six and that has to be a positive.

Brereton Diaz’s development is interesting: In five previous seasons with Blackburn Rovers and his former club Nottingham Forest, he’d scored just 17 times in 133 league matches. His ratio has improved significantly over the last few months and, while he’s hardly a late developer at 22, it does suggest that the best is yet to come.

It’s impossible to know exactly what to expect but it may be fair to assume that West Ham will be linked with worse strikers than Ben Brereton Diaz in the coming weeks.

* Like to share your thoughts on this article? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.

* Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the highlighted author/s and do not necessarily represent or reflect the official policy or position of KUMB.com.