With a new head coach and sporting director at the helm, along with a series of other off-field changes at Liverpool, it could be an eventful summer transfer window at Anfield.
In his eponymous YouTube channel, journalist David Lynch discussed potential exits from Merseyside, with Luis Diaz among the players to have been linked with a possible move away amid reported interest from Barcelona.
Speaking about the Colombian, the reporter said: “Given Diaz’s age (27) and that his contract is up to 2027, maybe this is the summer where typically you would be talking around a new deal if they wanted to keep him, but it’s still a fairly comfortable contractual situation. Barcelona, if they are the club to come in, would they be able to raise the funds to tempt Liverpool into doing anything?
“The one thing I would say on Diaz is I don’t think it’s a clear-cut one. My understanding is that Liverpool are happy to keep him, but they believe that maybe his output could be slightly better if they can do something where they lose Diaz and replace him with someone who scores a few more goals, maybe that’s something they’d look into.”
“It’s a possibility, not one that I’d absolutely rule out in the way I would with Alisson and Nunez, but equally not one that you’d say would definitely depart this summer. I think he’s a really interesting story going into the summer for Liverpool and one to keep an eye on. It’s one of those where it’s almost 50-50 at the moment.”
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There could certainly be a few departures from the Reds’ current squad this summer, but we don’t think Diaz will (or should) be one of them.
The 27-year-old was one of the team’s liveliest players over the final six weeks of the season, even if he didn’t score in any of his nine appearances since the 2-2 draw at Manchester United in early April, while he was recently dubbed ‘brilliant‘ by Liverpool Echo columnist John Aldridge.
Thirteen goals for the campaign isn’t a terrible return, and considering how Liverpool were decimated by injuries earlier this year, the hierarchy shouldn’t sign off on player sales unless a huge offer were to come in, or the man in question is evidently on the periphery and needs a career revival elsewhere.
Right now, Diaz doesn’t fit into either of those categories, so we’d be quite surprised if they were to part with Diaz this summer.
You can view Lynch’s comments on Diaz below (from 6:06), via David Lynch – Liverpool FC on YouTube: