Newcastle United sporting director Dan Ashworth made enquiries into signing Blackburn Rovers striker Ben Brereton Diaz this summer, according to The Athletic.

With Callum Wilson’s tenuous injury record, Magpies boss Eddie Howe was keen to bring in a new striker to St James’ Park ahead of the transfer window’s closure.

Earlier on in the summer, it looked like former Reims attacker Hugo Ekitike was closing in on a move to Tyneside after the club had reopened talks following January’s failed pursuit.

However, with a deal failing to come to fruition, Newcastle turned their attention elsewhere, eyeing the likes of Brentford’s Ivan Toney and Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

In the end, however, the Magpies secured the club-record signing of Alexander Isak from Real Sociedad in a deal worth £63m, after previously being priced out of a move for the Sweden international.

The Latest: Ashworth enquired about Brereton Diaz

After Thursday's transfer deadline, a number of Newcastle’s summer targets came to light in the public sphere.

According to a report by The Athletic, the Tyneside outfit plotted over a myriad of attackers who could be potential arrivals at St James’ Park.

Included in this, interestingly, was Brereton Diaz. Apparently, Ashworth actually called Blackburn Rovers in mid-August to ask about the availability of their star striker, with the Magpies still on the hunt for a forward.

At the time, the Chile international was receiving strong Premier League interest, with the likes of Wolves and West Ham also touted with a move for the 23-year-old, but he ended up staying put.

The Verdict: Great potential

Whilst Newcastle clearly opted to look elsewhere in their search for a striker, the arrival of Brereton Diaz on top of Isak could have made a lot of sense for Eddie Howe’s side.

In 37 Championship games last season, the former Nottingham Forest man, who has been dubbed Blackburn’s ‘catalyst’ by former Rovers star Colin Hendry, netted a staggering 22 goals.

Admittedly with a large gap in the standard of football, these numbers trump not only Isak’s last La Liga campaign but also his best one in 2020/21, in which the Swede bagged 17 goals in 34 appearances.

With an obvious price gap between the two, Brereton Diaz was never going to lead the line for Newcastle, having never made an appearance in the top-flight of English football.

However, with Wilson’s injuries, the arrival of both strikers would have provided Howe with two great options going forward, with quality in depth allowing the Newcastle boss to rotate the team when needed.

And with Brereton Diaz failing to get his Premier League move this summer, this could be one for Toon fans to watch in January.