By Steve Slater

LONDON (Reuters) - Thousands of Lehman Brothers staff in New York may forgive Bob Diamond his fierce allegiance to the Boston Red Sox baseball team if he rides to the rescue and saves their business.

Robert E. Diamond, universally known as Bob, heads the investment banking division of British bank Barclays, which said on Tuesday it was in talks to buy some of Lehman's assets.

The prize Diamond wants is Lehman's core U.S. broker-dealer business, according to people familiar with the matter, which would fulfil his ambition of taking on Wall Street's big investment banks on their own turf..

Diamond was born and raised in Concord, Massachusetts, but is better known in Britain, where he is one of the country's top bankers and highest paid executives, earning 21 million pounds last year.

The energetic and charismatic 57-year old is already spending more time in New York as BarCap grabs business from rivals in turmoil, and a deal for Lehman would likely see the power base of BarCap shift to New York from London.

That will give sports-mad Diamond more chance to see his beloved Red Sox, rather than Chelsea F.C., the London-based soccer team he regularly watches. New York staff may need to overlook his allegiance to the New England Patriots football team, too.

Diamond draws parallels between sports and business, and says he runs a meritocracy and rewards success, touring the dealing room and talking to the players.

He has been the public face of BarCap since joining in 1996 and is credited with reviving it from the ashes of Barclays de Zoete Wedd (BZW) soon after arriving.