Life in the Premier League for Nottingham Forest is starting to look promising with the Reds picking up two wins in their first four games of the 2023/24 campaign.
The season prior was admittedly very shaky for the two-time FA Cup winners.
The Tricky Trees recruited 21 new players last season for a cost of £145m which was more than the likes of Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.
Forest were just four points away from being relegated back down to the dreaded Championship despite heavy investment from Evangelos Marinakis’ pockets.
It took Forest a whopping 23 years to return to the Premier League after overcoming Huddersfield Town 1-0 in the Championship play-off final in 2022.
However, Steve Cooper’s men could have returned much sooner to the pinnacle of English football if they had kept a now-renowned striker dubbed a 'goal machine' – a certain man who now goes by the name Ben Brereton Díaz since his departure from the City Ground.
Why did Forest sell Brereton Diaz?
After spells in Manchester United and hometown club Stoke City’s academy systems, Brereton Diaz signed for Nottingham Forest in 2015 following his release from the Potters.
The 6 foot 1 attacker progressed through the academy with now Sheffield United centre-back Anel Ahmedhodžić and current Forest midfielder Ryan Yates before breaking into the first team in the 2016/17 season.
In the 18 games he played that season, the attacking ace bagged three goals for the Reds. He averaged 0.24 goals per 90 putting him ahead of the established teammate Ross McCormack (0.23).
The following season, then-managers Mark Warburton and Aitor Karanka trusted the Stoke-on-Trent-born striker to be the club’s first-choice striker.
Forest finished the season in an unremarkable 17th as Brereton Diaz scored a measly five goals in 35 games which resulted in him leaving the City Ground the following season as the two-time champions of Europe obviously needed a vigorous rebuild.
Marinakis took money out of the club’s coffers to bring in Hillal Soudani, Lewis Grabban and João Carvalho while Brereton Diaz was shipped off to Blackburn Rovers on loan before the transfer was made permanent in January 2019 for £6m.
A decision that has perhaps been made to pay, with Transfermarkt now valuing the impressive forward at around €16m (£14m), which represents a 133% increase on what Forest sold him for four years ago.
How did Brereton Diaz perform at Blackburn?
By the end of the 2018/19 season, Marinakis looked like he had pulled off the club’s best bit of business to date, as the now-Chilean international scored once in 25 Championship while assisting just two times.
Forest finished the season just outside of the play-offs in ninth place, whilst Blackburn had a lacklustre campaign ending the year in 15th.
It would be thought that after one year at Ewood Park the then £6k-per-week attacker may have acclimatised to his new surroundings however the former England-youth international would once again finish the next season with one goal to his name.
Back at his previous club, Forest had finished seventh, missing out on the play-offs by on goal difference as Grabban put the ball in the back of the net 20 times over the course of the season, showing the decision to cash in on Brereton Diaz as a good one.
Tony Mowbray’s faith in the former Manchester United youth prospect was ultimately one of the best decisions the now 59-year-old Sunderland manager has ever made.
The "extraordinary" Brereton Diaz – as once lauded by his former Black Cats boss – stormed the Championship in the 2021/22 campaign blowing away the competition with ease.
The 6 foot 1 talisman finished the season with an outstanding 22 goals in 37 matches helping Mowbray’s Riversiders to a well-earned eighth position.
Remarkably, the Chilean only finished the season with the third joint top goalscorer in England’s second tier with Andreas Weimann and Joel Piroe, Aleksandar Mitrović shattered the record amount of goals in the championship with 43.
Ben Brereton Diaz's attacking output in the Championship for Blackburn, as per Transfermarkt
Season Games Goals Assists 2018/19 25 1 2 2019/20 15 1 0 2020/21 40 7 5 2021/22 37 22 3 2022/23 43 14 4
At the time, fans at the City Ground may have not cared about dropping the ball on Brereton Diaz as Cooper had just guided them to the Premier League. However, the season after is when the Forest’s fans would have hoped they still had their former attacker apart of their roster.
Cooper’s boys in red struggled to find the back of the net on their return to the Premier League. Across the 2021/22 Premier League season, Forest scored just 38 goals with only Taiwo Awoniyi being able to score double figures.
Nottingham Forest attackers vs Brereton Diaz in 2022/23, as per FotMob Name Games Goals Assists Taiwo Awoniyi 27 10 1 Brennan Johnson 38 8 3 Emmanuel Dennis 19 2 2 Chris Wood 7 1 0 Ben Brereton Diaz 43 14 4
The presence of Brereton Diaz could have provided Nottingham Forest with another outlet to produce goals. The Tricky Trees splashed the cash on £20m rated Emmanuel Dennis and then £17.5m on former Liverpool academy striker Taiwo Awoniyi, with the pair scoring just 12 times between them.
Brereton Diaz ended the season at Ewood Park with a rather impressive 14 goals and four assists as Blackburn finished seventh.
The rangy attacker may have been playing in the Championship, nevertheless, he did it in an overachieving Blackburn side.
The attacking phenomenon was just a fraction of the cost for the Riversiders of what Dennis and Awoniyi were sold for.
Where is Brereton Diaz now?
A big fish in a relatively small pond, the 21-capped Chile International was destined for a move away from Ewood Park.
There were links that the now ex-Blackburn attacker would be playing in the Premier League this season but nothing materialised.
Brereton Diaz’s Hispanic ancestry led him to Spain as he signed for the 2021 UEFA Europa League winners Villarreal in the summer on a free transfer.
This is arguably the biggest move the Chilean striker could have made as it assures him a decent chance to play in Europe every season with none of the ‘big six’ in the Premier League prepared to make an offer.
How is Brereton Diaz doing at Villarreal?
Speaking after signing for Villarreal, Brereton Diaz said: “When I heard about the opportunity it was a no-brainer. An unbelievable club that play great football and I just can't wait to get started.
“I can't wait for the opportunity,' he said. 'It's a great challenge and a level above where I've been playing at in England so I can't wait.
“It's going to be amazing. I just want to work as hard as I can, score goals and work hard for the team.”
The now Villarael attacker has played 103 minutes of La Liga football so far for his new club over two appearances, according to WhoScored.
Brereton Diaz has yet to score or assist in those two appearances and has averaged 0.3 shots and successful dribbles per 90 showing how he has struggled so far at the Yellow Submarines.
However, if history has ever proven anything it’s not to write off the former Forest youth prospect as he has what it takes to prove critics wrong.
