Southampton are closely monitoring the situation of a new, prolific attacker, with a fresh report revealing that he could potentially join the club on loan in January.
Southampton’s top goalscorers
Adam Armstrong is currently Saints’ top scorer in the Championship, sitting pretty with eight strikes in 15 appearances, but no other centre-forward at the club has managed more than three goals so far this season.
Russell Martin has Samuel Edozie and Ryan Fraser as his two options out wide on the left wing meawhile, but there’s a strong possibility that the latter could be set to depart at the end of the current campaign. The Saints attacker is only on a season-long loan from Newcastle United, meaning that he will return to his parent club should the opportunity to buy him on a permanent basis not arrive, though that doesn’t seem to have stopped the boss from wanting to enter the market to search for another temporary addition.
Despite only joining over the summer from Championship side Blackburn, Villarreal’s Ben Brereton Diaz has emerged as a potential candidate having been extremely limited to game time since putting pen to paper on his exciting move to Spain.
The Chile international has made just two starts and six substitute appearances so far this season in La Liga (WhoScored – Brereton Diaz statistics), showing how low down in the pecking order he is, and if the following update is to be believed, the 24-year-old has been told he is free to leave temporarily to get more minutes under his belt.
Southampton interested in Ben Brereton Diaz
According to TEAMtalk, Southampton are keen on Ben Brereton Diaz, but they are set to face stiff competition with four other clubs also hoping to secure his services.
“TEAMtalk can exclusively reveal that a number of clubs are tracking Brereton Diaz, with Villarreal willing to sanction a loan move for him in January. We understand that amongst those keen are Premier League clubs Crystal Palace and Burnley.
“Crystal Palace and Burnley are not alone in their interest, however, with Championship sides Leicester, Southampton and West Brom also understood to be keeping tabs on the former Blackburn man.”
Ben Brereton Diaz’s goalscoring record
During his time at Blackburn Rovers, Brereton Diaz racked up 63 contributions, 47 goals and 16 assists, in 177 senior appearances (Transfermarkt – Brereton Diaz statistics), with his prolific form in the final third having previously seen him dubbed a “goal machine” by reliable journalist Alan Nixon.
Juan Jose Rojo Martin’s £33k-per-week earner (Villarreal salaries), also recorded a total of 106 shots over the course of last season which was more than any of his fellow teammates (FBRef – Blackburn statistics), highlighting his constant desire to hit the back of the net even if the end product wasn’t always there.
Ben Brereton Diaz’s Style Of Play |
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Likes to cut inside |
Likes to dribble |
Counter attack threat |
Does not dive into tackles (Data via WhoScored) |
Additionally, Brereton Diaz shares the same representative, Wasserman, as Fraser, Ryan Manning, James Bree and Flynn Downes (Southampton agents), so this existing connection that his management already have to the club could give the board a small advantage over their competitors should they decide to pursue a deal in January.
