'I've got a bone to pick' - £7m West Brom star makes promise after injury hell

Daryl Dike is out to prove he hasn't lost a yard of pace as he closes in on a a return to injury to help table-topping West Brom in their bid for promotion.

The American striker has been taking part in training with his Baggies teammate, and is due to return to competitive action next month. Dike has been limited to five competitive appearances over the last 17 months, having suffered successive Achilles injuries, but is in good spirits, and now has an added motivation to perform when he makes his return from injury.

He has been rated 70 on FC 25, the latest edition of the popular EA Sports franchise. It was a rating decrease of one which is to be understood because of his injury, and the 10-time USA international has no qualms about that.

As part of his rating decrease however, his pace attribute has gone down to 65, which is a decrease of three from 68 in FC 24. Dike has made a promise now that when he does return, he will make sprints to show he hasn’t slowed down in his injury, and will improve on his dribbling work to earn a higher skill stars move, which is currently rated at two.

In a video he uploaded on TikTok, which has been seen over 66,000 times, was speaking in a joking manner, and said: “Someone that rates my pace, understand, I haven’t ran like that in a year-and-a-half like that but I didn’t lose my legs. I still can run, 65 pace is disgusting. That’s like jogging pace. 

When I come back, I’m just going to be sprinting all over the pitch because this is disgusting. 

“I’m OK with the 70 rating, I’m calm with that. 

“The shooting could be a little bit higher, passing, but that’s just never been it. I’m a goal scorer. 

“Listen I will up the passing. Dribbling, I’ll try and up the star skill moves and stuff like that. 

“Defending yeah I’m a striker. Physical, for those that don’t know, everyone knows I’m the strongest person in the game. 95 strength. No matter how long the time is, it’s still going to be 95 strength. I’m still going to be the strongest person in the game.”

The 24-year-old was signed from Orlando City back in January 2022 for a reported £7m, and his return to the fold will see competition for places heat up. Josh Maja has enjoyed a fantastic start to the season with five goals in five games, and with Dike set to come in to the reckoning, they will have a different option to utilise.

Carlos Corberan will also have a player that is out there to have a point to prove, even if he was speaking in a light-hearted manner when discussing his player rating. He doubled down on his pace, and made a promise to make sprints when given his opportunity.

Dike added: “What are we saying about my card, all I know is I’ve got a bone to pick with EA because I didn’t lose my legs. I’m going to be sprinting over the pitch, and so when people see that, it’s because of EA, that’s why. “