West Brom & Middlesbrough could sign EFL star who’s a Johnston & Conway hybrid

Middlesbrough and West Bromwich Albion are two of the clubs who will hope to benefit from the expansion of the Championship play-offs next season.

For the first time in the league’s history, six teams will compete in the play-offs in the 2026/27 campaign, as the teams that finish third to eighth will compete for promotion.

The extra two slots provide more teams with a chance of making their way to the Premier League and could make for an even more exciting end to the Championship season.

Kim Hellberg’s side just lost 1-0 to Hull City in the Championship play-off final, failing to score at Wembley, whilst West Brom only scored 48 goals in 46 games as they narrowly escaped a relegation battle.

It seems pretty clear, therefore, that Boro and the Baggies should both be in the market for attacking reinforcements when the summer transfer window opens for business.

Assessing Middlesbrough and West Brom’s current attacks

Aside from a 3-0 win over Watford, West Brom struggled for goals towards the end of the campaign. James Morrison’s side failed to score in three of their last six league games.

No Baggies player hit double figures for goals or assists in the division, as Mikey Johnston delivered nine assists, but only scored two goals from a wide position.

Meanwhile, Morgan Whittaker and Tommy Conway both hit double figures for goals for Boro, with 14 and 13 respectively, but none of Hellberg’s players produced more than seven assists.

These statistics suggest that Middlesbrough and West Brom are both in need of attacking reinforcements who can both score goals and create goals at Championship level.

Goals win games and the Baggies did not have enough wins to push into the play-offs and Boro did not have enough goals in them to score at Wembley in the play-off final.

Now, both clubs are reportedly chasing a player who could be like a hybrid of Johnston, with his creativity, and Conway, with his goalscoring, in the summer transfer window.

West Brom and Boro could sign Tommy Conway and Mikey Johnston hybrid

Middlesbrough and West Brom are both reportedly interested in a deal to sign Chile international Ben Brereton Diaz from Southampton ahead of the 2026/27 campaign.

The 27-year-old forward, who can play on the right, on the left, or through the middle, spent the 2025/26 campaign on loan at Derby County and helped them to secure a top-half finish.

Brereton Diaz enjoyed a strong season with the Rams, scoring more than three times as many goals as Johnston and creating two more ‘big chances’ than Conway, and could be an excellent addition to either squad.

His seven ‘big chances’ created suggest that he would add some much-needed creativity to the Boro squad, whilst his return of seven goals from the wing would give Morrison’s team the added goal threat that they desperately lacked this term.

The best part about a potential deal for Brereton Diaz is also that he has the potential to offer significantly more in front of goal if Boro or the Baggies can get him back to his best at the top end of the pitch.

During his time at Blackburn Rovers, the versatile forward scored 36 Championship goals in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 campaigns combined, including 22 in the former.

He showed that he does have the ability to find the back of the net on a regular basis in the second tier, but moves to Sheffield United and Southampton, coupled with difficult spells in the Premier League, disrupted his rhythm.

Now that he has had a full season under his belt to start to get back to his best in the Championship, now could be the best time to sign the Chile international in the upcoming summer window.

He has the goalscoring potential to be a huge goal threat, which is what West Brom need, and can also be a creative talent, which is what Boro need, and that means that he can be a hybrid of the best parts of both Conway and Johnston.

Brereton Diaz could be the missing piece for both clubs and that is why this particular transfer race could end up being telling in the promotion race next season.