Derby County boss John Eustace backed to "ignite" Ben Brereton Diaz's career after "major coup" | OneFootball

FLW's Derby County Fan Pundit reveals his thoughts on the former Blackburn Rovers forward signing for the Rams

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Derby County signing Southampton's Ben Brereton Diaz has been labelled a "major coup" for the Rams as John Eustace looks to add some much-needed width in his squad.

This comes after Football League World exclusively revealed that the East Midlands outfit were leading the race to sign the Chile international on Friday - he has now put pen-to-paper on a season-long loan deal at Pride Park.

Brereton Diaz endured a somewhat challenging 2024/25 campaign, managing just four goals across spells with the Saints and Sheffield United - all of which came in the Championship for Blades after re-joining on loan in January for the second time in as many years.

The 26-year-old initially spent some time in South Yorkshire during 2023/24, signing for the second-half of the season from Spanish side Villarreal. In his first stint at Bramall Lane, the 35-cap Chile international netted six goals in 14 Premier League games for United.

Ben Brereton Diaz told that John Eustace will revitalise his career at Derby County

Shaun Woodward, FLW's Derby County fan pundit, expressed strong enthusiasm for the potential arrival of Brereton Diaz, pinpointing Eustace's track record of getting the best out of players struggling with confidence at Pride Park.

"It's a major coup for the club," Woodward told FLW.

"Excellent player, he’s scored goals at this level, brilliant at Blackburn, yes his career has stalled a bit over the last year but there’s a real good player in there. He’s still a great age as well.

"He can play out wide or in a three behind the main man - he can be the main man as well.

"If we can get his confidence up, a bit like Rhian Brewster, there’s a player there. If we can find the best form for them and give them a home, then we’ve got some seriously talented lads on our books."

The comparison to Brewster is realistic - albeit his season has only just started - with the former Liverpool striker having already shown signs of improvement since joining Derby on a free transfer this summer.

"It’s just getting them to feel comfortable in the environment they’re in, and I think John Eustace is the man that can do that, because already - Rhian Brewster, Bobby Clark - players like that, they look like they’re thriving under Eustace," Woodward added.

Before joining Southampton for a reported £7m, Brereton Diaz failed to score in 20 appearances across all competitions for Villarreal - only spending 12 months in Spain before returning to England.

Derby County have been "crying out" for players like Ben Brereton Diaz

Woodward mentioned how he believes Eustace can be the one to get Brereton Diaz firing like his Blackburn days. In his final two seasons in Lancashire, he scored 38 goals whilst providing seven assists.

"It’s early days but I think he’s (Eustace) going to really ignite some of these lads’ careers and hopefully, Diaz can come in and Eustace can have that effect on him as well," Shaun said.

"We’d have some serious firepower then which would be amazing for the club because last season, we were just crying out for players like this, we could only dream of these type of players 12 months ago - so yeah, it’d be great to get him in the building."

Although Eustace has never managed Brereton Diaz before, the forward would be the sixth former Blackburn player to sign for the Rams this summer - following Owen Beck, Dion Sanderson, Lewis Travis, Danny Batth and Andi Weimann.