Expert issues verdict on West Ham signing Diaz ahead of Broja after major update
Noel Whelan has urged West Ham to make a move for Blackburn Rovers striker Ben Brereton Diaz over Chelsea’s Armando Broja.
The former Leeds forward, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, suggested Rovers’ 22-year-old would offer more up front than the 20-year-old Southampton loanee.
As revealed on Thursday (27 January), West Ham have narrowed their striker search down to Brereton Diaz and Broja.
The Irons are hopeful of signing a new centre-forward before Monday’s transfer deadline.
Whelan suggested David Moyes should push to sign the Chile international over Broja.
Asked who he thought West Ham should sign from the pair, Whelan told Football Insider’s Russell Edge: “Diaz. With the amount of goals he’s scored, getting on the scoresheet for Chile against on Thursday night, it gives them that little bit more of an option, doesn’t it?
“He has that height and physicality, which we already know West Ham have got in abundance in their side, but also that athleticism.
“I think that West Ham are probably one of the biggest sides in the Premier League when you look at the stature of the players.
“I think he’s one of those players that can run in behind but he’s also a target man. He holds the ball up well and bring others into play.
“When I look at Brereton Diaz, what he could offer and what David Moyes has done with players from the Championship already, for me he just nudges ahead of Broja.”
Brereton Diaz has been in sensational form for Blackburn this season, with 20 goals in 27 Championship appearances.
Meanwhile, Broja has netted five times in 18 Premier League games for Southampton.
In other news, two West Ham stars could quit this summer after a “really surprising” claim.