Daryl Dike signs for West Bromwich Albion

Daryl Dike’s time at Orlando City has come to an end. The prolific young striker officially transferred to West Bromwich Albion in the EFL Championship today for an undisclosed fee. According to ESPN's Jeff Carlisle, Orlando receive a $9.5 million transfer fee, performance-based bonuses, and 20% of any future sale.

“I am extremely grateful to everyone at Orlando City for believing in me and for giving me the opportunity to play for this incredible club,” Dike said in a club press release. 

“This was a great place for me to start my career and I am thankful to the club for helping me toward this next step of my journey. I will always cherish my time here with my teammates, coaches, and staff, but I’ll especially miss the fans and the incredible atmosphere they create for each home game.”

Dike netted 11 goals in 19 MLS appearances last season and with the US men’s national team, scored three times in eight senior caps.

Dike's career in Orlando City

The 21-year-old spent two seasons with Orlando City after being drafted in the first round (No. 5 overall) in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft. He made his debut as a Lion against the Montreal Impact in the MLS is Back round of 16 last year, and played two more times in that tournament.

He went on to play in 35 regular-season matches with Orlando, including 30 starts, for a total of 2,547 minutes. He contributed 18 goals and seven assists on 63 shots, getting 27 on target. He passed well (71.1% in 2020 and 72.1% in 2021), providing 14 key passes. Dike drew 71 fouls while committing 40 and was never booked during the regular season in his time in MLS.

He also played in all three of Orlando City’s playoff games to date, starting all three and scoring one goal.

Dike to enjoy a second spell in the English second division

Dike re-unites with manager Valérien Ismaël after playing for him last year while on loan at Championship side Barnsley. For the 21-year-old, it seemed like a matter of when, not if, a move of this ilk would formalize.

Dike scored nine goals in 21 matches during his loan spell with Barnsley at the start of 2021, an impressive stint that led to plenty of transfer speculation but no offers anywhere close to what Orlando City was willing to accept for the 21-year-old striker.

West Bromwich fights at the top of the table

West Brom is in the thick of the promotion race of the League Championship, currently sitting in fourth place, four points away from the automatic promotion places in the top two, spots currently occupied by league-leading Bournemouth and second-place Fulham.

Dike will join a West Brom attack that is among the lowest-scoring units currently in the promotion race in the League Championship, with the striker position a particular area of need after the failed loan of Norwich City striker Jordan Hugill, who has managed just one goal as the starting striker for the Baggies.

Dike joins a mass exodus of attacking talents leaving Orlando City this offseason, joining Nani and Chris Mueller, with Mueller having completed a free transfer to Scottish club Hibernian.