Editor’s Column: Luis Diaz is Firmino and Mane rolled into one and maybe the best £37m spent in years

Posted by

Having watched every minute of Luis Diaz’s Liverpool career so far, it would be fair to say he’s not really had a bad one.

Mo Salah flows in and out of matches. Sadio Mane gives the ball away and has the odd poor touch when we’re countering. But Diaz hasn’t really made any mistakes, bar shots that haven’t nestled in the top corner. It’s honestly a little strange.

Despite arriving in a rushed deal at the end of January; into a new country, culture and football style, where he doesn’t speak the language, the Colombian’s integration has been quite astonishing.

Diaz has basically been touch-perfect in every game to date. The 25-year-old has now made five appearances, two of them as a substitute, and done much more than simply whet our appetite.

Look at his statistics from last night. They are not normal for an attacking player. You’re not supposed to have that kind of pass completion when you’re trying to make things happen, or win that many headers and duels when you’re meant to be a tricky winger…

Even if 17-goal Diogo Jota was fit for Sunday’s League Cup Final with Chelsea, it would be extremely hard to leave out Diaz – who alongside Sadio Mane and Mo Salah – has looked every bit the equal of our legendary African duo.

We knew he was going to be quick – and he is – absolutely rapid. Both from a standing start and once he gets into full stride. This was on show last night when he skipped past Leeds star Stuart Dallas on the touchline, before bearing down on goal, a la Gareth Bale in that famous Copa del Rey Final when the Welshman had turbo-chargers of his own…

But fans didn’t know we were signing a speedster with jaw-dropping technical skills and Luis Suarez’s South American ferocity. It feels right the old Suarez song has been reimagined at Anfield already for our no.23. Diaz doesn’t give the ball away. Three, four players around him – it doesn’t matter. He’ll find his way out of the phone-box and pass to a fellow red. What’s more, he wins headers. He’s nearly 6ft tall.

His skill and invention is special. Versus Leeds he pulled off a ‘flip-flap,’ a ‘sombrero’ and the ‘no-look pass’ – as well a combination of flicks and turns that have yet to be labelled. The phrase ‘Player X is someone you’d pay to watch’ is stupid – as we pay to watch all of them all of the time – but it’s a fact that Luis Diaz leaves you smiling. I spent much of last night hoping to see a replay of his latest trickery so I could work out exactly what he’d just done.

Remember, Diaz cost £37m initially, £12m more than Newcastle just spent on Chris Wood. It could rise to £50m of course, and by the manner in which he’s started, he’s surely guaranteed to meet the various triggers required for the additional £13m.

Good. FC Porto deserve double that for moulding this talent and selling him to us on the cheap mid-season. No wonder Antonio Conte and Daniel Levy were so angry we hijacked the deal. So angry they went and took it out on Manchester City and got us firmly back in the title race!

It baffles belief that a player this good has been available at a selling club like FC Porto and nobody else has been savvy enough to snap him up.

The word is that he’s made monumental improvements in the past 18 months and the ludicrous form in which he started this season in Portugal surprised even those who rate him most highly. Diaz struck 14 goals for FC Porto before his transfer this season – which came from the left-wing in a 4-4-2 formation. This is much harder to do than it would be in a modern 4-3-3, in which the wide-player is essentially a forward, often more advanced than the striker in the middle. This is certainly how Jurgen Klopp interprets the formation anyway, and it suits Diaz perfectly.

It means he is often isolated against the opposition right-back, but can also drift infield into spaces between defenders where his quick-feet and vision enables intricate creation.

In the compilation below from Anfield midweek, you can see the various areas from which Diaz caused havoc. We won 6-0, but it could have been double figures if some of this football got what it deserved.

We don’t sign players for £30m+ very often, but when we do, we nearly always hit. And although it’s early days, Diaz looks like he could very well become as big a success as Salah and Mane – who themselves were both about to begin a meteoric improvement just at the moment we bought them.

Unlike those two upon their arrivals, Diaz will have to fight for his spot, but so far, he’s given Klopp the best possible headache. When everyone is fit, we have five elite footballers competing for three spots – and the very able backup options of Divock Origi and Taki Minamino behind them.

Liverpool are still in four competitions and absolutely flying. If this season pans out in the manner it’s showing it might do, the January Diaz signing boost might go down as one of the smartest decisions of the Klopp-era.

 

More Stories Luis Diaz