Eye-catching £7m Blackburn Rovers, Nottingham Forest deal was worth every penny: View | OneFootball

From Alan Shearer and Colin Hendry to Tugay and Morten Gamst Pedersen, Blackburn Rovers's list of cult heroes over the past three decades spans far and wide.

Ben Brereton Diaz has a legitimate claim to add his name to the list after four seasons at Ewood Park delivered two promotion pushes, which ultimately fell just short.

A loan signing from Nottingham Forest in August 2018, the Stoke-born Chile international scored 47 goals in 177 appearances for Rovers, but analysing Brereton Diaz's spell at Blackburn simply through the prism of statistics would do him a disservice.

Brereton Diaz made a big impression at the City Ground after making his debut for Forest in January 2017, winning the Championship Apprentice of the Year award in the 2016-17 season.

But his debut season in Lancashire returned a disappointing one goal in 28 appearances in all competitions as Rovers finished 15th in their first campaign back in the Championship following a one-season foray into League One.

Eyebrows were therefore raised when, in January 2019, Rovers shelled out a fee the BBC reported to be in the region of £7m to sign Diaz permanently, a fee making him the fifth-most expensive signing in the club's history.

At that point, the Chilean had failed to score in his previous 16 Championship appearances, all of whom bar one had come from the bench.

If Brereton Diaz's first season in Lancashire was uninspiring, his second campaign at Ewood Park did little to dispel allay concerns Rovers had squandered a huge sum of money. The Chilean found the net just twice in 17 appearances in all competitions as Blackburn finished 11th in the Championship.

How Ben Brereton Diaz became a Blackburn cult hero

But having gradually found his feet and earned Tony Mowbray's trust, the Chile international netted seven league goals and set up a further five in the following campaign, in which he started 30 of his 40 appearances in the Championship.

While Rovers could not maintain their upward trajectory and finished 15th again, Brereton Diaz enjoyed a spectacular coda to his season, making his debut for Chile, which he qualifies for through his mother.

Included in La Roja's squad for the 2021 Copa America, the 25-year-old scored in the 1-0 win over Bolivia in the group stages and helped Chile reach the quarter-final, where they lost to eventual runners-up Brazil.

With Brereton Diaz fever well and truly taking hold in Chile, Lancashire was to follow suit as the forward established himself as the perfect replacement to Adam Armstrong, the club's top scorer in the previous season, who was sold to Southampton.

Deployed either as left-winger or as the main striker, Brereton Diaz scored 22 goals in 37 Championship appearances and was named in the PFA Championship Team of the Year as Rovers finished eighth, six points adrift of a play-off spot.

How Brereton Diaz helped Blackburn promotion push

Their promotion hopes were dealt a major blow when Brereton Diaz was ruled out for a month with an ankle ligament injury in February 2022.

Blackburn won just two of the seven games he missed, a dismal run which arguably sealed their promotion fate.

Worse was to come 12 months later, when Rovers missed out on a play-off spot on goal difference on the final day of the season, despite coming back from 3-1 to beat Millwall 4-3 at The Den, courtesy of a brace from Brereton Diaz.

The two goals took his tally for the season to 14 in 43 Championship appearances, but would also prove to be his final contribution for Rovers as the Chile international joined Villarreal as a free agent at the end of the season.

Having just missed out on the play-off twice with Blackburn, somewhat ironically, Brereton Diaz's first taste of Premier League football came with Sheffield United last season, as he returned to England on loan in January following a disappointing start to life in LaLiga.

His six goals were not enough to prevent Sheffield United from being relegated, but there won't be a shortage of suitors following his performances at Bramall Lane.

Should he stay in the Championship, Brereton Diaz is guaranteed a warm welcome whenever he returns to Ewood Park.