Daryl Dike has signed a permanent move from Orlando City SC to West Brom, trading the MLS for the Championship, the English team confirmed.
USMNT Forward Daryl Dike has completed his move to English Championship side West Bromwich Albion, according to the club’s website. The move adds another Yank plying their trade in England, the 13th player in the country that will definitely look to get minutes straight away.
Dike signs a four-and-a-half-year contract at The Hawthorns from Orlando City SC, where he scored 11 goals in 19 matches this season, notching one assist. He definitely was the go to front man for Orlando City, and at 21 years old is at the right stage of his career to push himself to a new height.
Will the move help him earn a spot to Qatar and cement him into Gregg Berlhalter’s plans?
“I’m delighted we have completed the transfer of Dike,” said head coach Valerien Ismael. “He was always our first target and priority. There’s a lot of teamwork that has gone into this deal and I would personally like to thank Mr. Lai, Ken, Ron Gourlay, and Ian Pearce for making it happen so quickly. They have all worked very hard on the transfer.”
“Dike has everything we need from the No. 9 position. He has energy, strength – he challenges defenders – and he scores goals.”
“I worked with him at Barnsley and I know him very well. He has the mentality. He is 21 years old and is still a young player – but he has a lot of experience.”
West Brom sit fourth in the Championship and desperately are fighting for promotion back to the Premier League, two places behind second-place Fulham where Dike’s compatriots Tim Ream and Antonee Robinson are currently starters. The manager has earmarked the January 15th fixture against Queens Park Rangers as his target start, which rules him out of West Brom’s games against Brighton next Saturday.
“Now it’s about preparing Dike for the Championship,” he added. “It was important to us to get Dike as early as possible because we know that he had four weeks off after the MLS season. For sure, he needs time and the schedule for him is to work hard in the next two weeks, so he is ready to play a part against QPR. That is our target and now, with my staff, we will work to have a very, very good build up – using every day – to ensure he is in top shape by that game.”
West Brom has only won once in the last six games, and has scored double digit less goals than the teams ahead of them. Dike will be looked at to score vital goals to his new team to get the Baggies back to the Premier League.
Check out the goals from Dike in 2021
Watch Dike’s press conference with ESPN in July:
