If Sheffield United forward Ben Brereton Diaz was hoping the small furore about him not speaking Spanish would die down quickly, he was unfortunately mistaken.
That’s if the latest from La Tercera is anything to go by anyway, with them going out of their way to snipe at the Sheffield United star today by using old comments from Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez.
For those that don’t know, Chile boss Ricardo Gareca indicated before the last international break that Sheffield United’s Brererton Diaz was out of his thinking as he didn’t speak Spanish, despite playing for his country for the last three years.
He ultimately ended up calling up the Blades loanee after injuries limited his options, but it was done reluctantly.
He’s made it clear he would like Diaz to learn Spanish so he can better integrate himself into the international squad and, presumably, better understand his manager too.
They cover old comments from him today in which he revealed how, during his time at Arsenal, he worked extra hard to learn English, and develop himself.
“That was when Arsene Wenger told me that he had to learn the language,” the Aston Villa goalkeeper told Behind the Game.
“He put a premium in my contract if he took an exam at Cambridge University. If he passed the exam, he received $25,000. I told the teacher ‘please, I need to pass this test.’ So I studied for years and passed, that’s why I speak well and I improved over the years.
“I didn’t want to go to England when I was 16 years old. I saw my dad crying because he couldn’t pay the bills. Then I focused on the fact that I had to fight for my family, that’s why the first house was for them, the first car was for them.”
The newspaper believes those comments and that ‘effort’ ‘should resonate in their country and with Diaz, who ‘still cannot learn to speak Spanish’ despite featuring for his country regularly.
They say that ‘poor command’ of the language makes it difficult for him to function on the field and while exchanging instructions, and he’s expressed that discontent on multiple occasions.
It’s not gone unnoticed with Gareca and he, alongside the nation’s media, seemingly think he should be taking the Aston Villa star’s past experience as an example and making more of an effort.
