“A very good player”, is how Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp rather understatedly described Luis Diaz after the Colombian scored his second goal for the Reds in their win over Brighton.
Diaz has started five of the six Premier League games the Reds played since his arrival late in the January transfer window, plus the League Cup final in which he was Liverpool’s most productive attacking player.
The winger has made an immediate impact since arriving from Porto for an initial £37.5 million, which is even more impressive when you consider how carefully Klopp usually integrates new signings, with the likes of Andy Robertson, Fabinho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain taking months before they became regulars in the Reds’ lineup.
“The boy has settled quick as a player,” said Klopp. “It’s not so easy to bring in a player in the winter, without any kind of pre-season.”
And Liverpool wouldn’t have brought in Diaz in the winter had it not been for Tottenham making a move to sign the 25-year-old. By all accounts, Liverpool were planning to wait until the summer to sign the attacker but Spurs agreeing terms with Porto forced Liverpool’s hand.
Colombian football expert Pipe Sierra explains: “When the offer from Tottenham passed through the Porto headquarters, everybody here in Colombia felt sad. Colombian football fans think the quality of Luis Diaz deserves a better team.”
Harsh perhaps on Tottenham, but a marker for how highly rated Diaz is viewed in his homeland - and how Liverpool have the London club to thank for having Diaz in their squad for the vital end to what is an unprecedented season.
Liverpool luck
It does, though, beg the question of just how fortunate Liverpool have been here. How would things look if Spurs hadn’t made their move and thus Liverpool were without Diaz now?
Klopp’s side had a run of three games in a week without the injured duo of Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino; Diaz started all three games, Liverpool won all three games - including their first trophy of the season.
What would Liverpool’s attack have looked like without Diaz in those three games? The step down to Divock Origi or Takumi Minamino is quite large. Diaz is on completely another level.
Liverpool have played a midweek and weekend fixture every week since Diaz signed and excluding the upcoming international break that will continue well into April and quite possibly right up to the final game of the season if they progress again in the Champions League. Diaz is going to be getting a lot of minutes.
Competing in the FA Cup, Champions League and pushing for the Premier League title is a massive task. No English side has ever won the quadruple before, as Klopp rightly pointed out recently.
“Even City, with all the quality they have in the last few years, couldn’t win the quadruple - that says pretty much everything,” said the boss.
He’s right, of course. But if Liverpool were to make history this season, Luis Diaz will be a big part of it - coming into the side to inject fresh energy and a new unpredictability to the Reds’ attack.
Diaz’s availability also reduces the workload on Liverpool’s other forwards, of whom the trio of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino have had a huge workload in the last four seasons. Even Diogo Jota appears to be in need of some rotation now after a heavier workload early in the season than perhaps would have been expected.
Diaz’s signing could well be looked back upon as a catalyst for any success Liverpool enjoy between now and the end of the season, which is at odds with the club and Klopp’s usual approach to January signings.
The Salah Question
On the scoresheet alongside Diaz at Brighton was Salah, with the Egyptian netting a quite incredible 28th goal of the season so far in all competitions.
Salah took to social media afterwards to state “it is still in our hands” - perhaps a charm offensive after his agent’s social media use on Friday in response to Klopp’s comments on contract talks did little to ingratiate him with Liverpool supporters.
Indeed, the behaviour of Salah’s agent, Ramy Abbas, seems at odds with Salah’s image and personality. It’s a strange match for player and agent. Klopp will be keen to ensure that Salah’s contract talks do not become a very unwelcome distraction in Liverpool’s gruelling quadruple chase.
With talks over a new deal for 29-year-old stalling, Liverpool are going to face a very big decision this summer when Salah enters the final 12 months of his contract. If no agreement can be made, they will have to consider selling and avoid losing the club’s ninth-top goalscorer of all time on a free transfer next summer.
Salah can sign a pre-contract agreement with a foreign club in less than 10 months’ time. Losing Salah would be a huge blow. While fans may point to previous superstars such as Fernando Torres and Luis Suarez in recent times leaving, Liverpool back then weren’t the force they are now.
But should that happen, there would be space for a new King of the Kop to emerge. Diaz could never replace Salah, as nobody could at present, but he could develop into the next world star at Anfield.
“There’s a lot of space for improvement,” says Klopp. “But yes he is a very good player.” Liverpool would need more than one very good player to replace Salah, though.
Optimism and worry on either side of the pitch: just the usual life of a football supporter.
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