Journalist Luke Edwards has been speaking on the Transfer Gossip Daily podcast about Everton’s interest in Ben Brereton Diaz.
It has been a whirlwind transfer window for Everton, having seen Richarlison depart for £60m while also managing to bring in four new faces for less than the total they received for the Brazilian, although a direct replacement hasn’t necessarily arrived given that winger Dwight McNeil has never been prolific in front of goal.
While that is still to be addressed, the fact that Dominic Calvert-Lewin cannot stay fit at the moment means the need for a new striker could well be high up on Frank Lampard’s priority list, which makes the links to Brereton Diaz seem more feasible.
Edwards believes that if Everton were to move for the Chilean, it would make sense for them.
He said: “It’s a gamble, because as I say, you never know with a player whether they’re going to be able to transfer that goalscoring form from the Championship to the Premier League. But I think what Everton are looking for is a player to come in and maybe be an understudy to a fit and healthy Calvert-Lewin for a year, and then hope they can transition into that Premier League player.
“I think Blackburn have already turned down a £10m bid from Nice this summer. Nice have been quite busy this summer – they’ve signed Kasper Schmeichel from Leicester, obviously – so I think Blackburn will be looking for probably quite a lot more than that.
“I think Blackburn will probably want about £20m – that’s quite a lot of money, so that might depend on Anthony Gordon going to Chelsea to bring that money in. But I think it’s a profile of player that I can totally understand why Frank Lampard is interested in him.
Do you want Everton to sign Brereton Diaz?
Yes!
No!
“I think there are a lot of Premier League clubs who were probably waiting to see how he did this season, his second season – waiting to see whether that 25 goals last season was a one-off, or whether he can transfer that into a second season. But the fact he’s scored two goals in what, three or four games this season, suggests he’s going to carry on scoring goals.
“I think there’s a really good player there. He’s strong, powerful, quick; there have been comparisons in Blackburn to a young Alan Shearer, which is obviously high praise indeed.”
TIF Thoughts on interest in Diaz…
It’s no surprise that Everton are interested in the services of Brereton Diaz after his superb season last time out for Blackburn in which he managed to score 22 goals and rack up three assists. However, as has been shown with former Rovers ace Adam Armstrong, scoring goals in the Championship doesn’t necessarily translate into goals in the Premier League.
Therefore, if Everton are having to shell out £20m for the forward, Lampard has to be sure that he can either hit the ground running during Calvert-Lewin’s absence or know that the Chilean will be able to learn and grow while getting minutes in a backup role to the likes of Calvert-Lewin and Salomon Rondon.