Luis Diaz is a player many football fans may not have heard of before Liverpool signed him from Portuguese giants Porto for £37.5m.
The little Colombian, however, has since made his mark and, in the process, has become a firm favourite among the Liverpool faithful.
Below, we’ll take a look at Luis Diaz in more detail, his statistics, and the impact he’s had on the success of the Reds’ possible quadruple season.
About Luis Diaz
Diaz has had something of a meteoric rise to the top of world football.
The 25-year-old began his career at Barranquilla FC, a second-division Colombian team, before Atletico Junior snapped him up.
The wide man spent two years playing with Junior, scoring 15 goals in 67 games before he left for the Portuguese top-flight for just €7m.
From 2019 to 2022, he played 77 games for Porto, scoring an impressive 26 goals from the wing.
In that time, he gained priceless Champions League experience, scoring the only goal in a memorable win against AC Milan, and helped his side win the title in the 2019/20 season.
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What does Luis Diaz bring to the Liverpool team?
Luis Diaz is a technical, quick and direct attacking winger who has the ability to instill fear in the hearts of defenders.
As we’ve seen in his short period in the Premier League so far, our winter signing’s close control and direct dribbling can open up teams and create chances from virtually nothing.
One of the best examples of his impact was in the Merseyside Derby; with Liverpool locked in a 0-0 draw against Everton in a game they had to win, Jurgen Klopp brought on Diaz with about 25 minutes to go.
Within seconds, the Colombian international took the ball and drove at the opposition team, which had the effect of unsettling the tiring Everton defence, and within a few minutes Liverpool had scored.
“You don’t expect miracles immediately from these kind of players,” the former Borussia Dortmund boss told Sky Sports on the forward’s superb start to life in Merseyside. “But he is not far away from doing exactly that. Long may it continue.”
What Diaz brings to the team is the ability to link up creatively with Liverpool’s top players.
Mo Salah, Bobby Firmino and Sadio Mane have had a great partnership for years and Diaz, who can roam across the front-three, offers useful support.
There’s also an element of thinking ahead for the club and Klopp, with Salah at 29 years of age and Mane at 30, there’s ongoing debate as to how long either player can extend their best footballing years.
Luis Diaz’s statistics for Liverpool
Liverpool signed Diaz on 30th January for an initial fee of £37.5m. There are add-ons as well, amounting to an additional potential of £12.5m.
It’s a modest outlay for the Anfield-based outfit – a team that has a history of spending big in January transfer windows, but one that seems to have paid off.
Our latest signing’s impact was immediate too, with him making his debut on 6th February in the FA Cup win over Cardiff City, helping create a goal after coming on as a 58th-minute substitute.
In his second league start for the club on 19th February, Diaz scored his first effort in a 3-1 win over Norwich.
However, it was a few weeks later in the Champions League quarter-finals where Diaz made his mark, scoring a goal and providing an assist in the 3-1 win over Benfica, his former Portuguese rivals.
It’s still early days yet for the electric winger, but the impact has been nothing short of positive.
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