Luis Diaz showed Liverpool exactly what they’re missing this season with a man-of-the-match performance against FC St Pauli.
The Colombian international produced the decisive moments of the game, supplying the assist for Raphael Guerreiro’s equaliser before scoring after the 90-minute mark to secure three points for Bayern.
A top performance from the former Red, which takes his tally to 18 goal contributions in all competitions in the 2025/26 season.
How Luis Diaz helped Bayern Munich beat FC St Pauli
It has to be said that the one glaring thing Liverpool seem to be missing on the flanks this season is pace.
But what particularly stood out when observing Diaz’s involvement in their 3-1 win in the Bundesliga was his superb ability to retain possession.
Just take a look at some fan footage shared on CF Bayern Insider’s YouTube:
The winger runs into the box, controls a ball lofted over the defence from Kim Min-jae, and holds possession whilst under pressure from two St Pauli players.
He is eventually felled, but manages to knock the ball to Guerreiro, who finishes from close range.
Then, to top it all off, Luis Diaz sets the home crowd on fire with a match-winning headed goal in the depths of extra time in the second half.
Catch Luis Diaz celebrating his goal for FC Bayern below:
Would Diaz be an improvement on Cody Gakpo?
It’s hard to say whether or not Diaz would be a serious improvement on the left wing.
On the face of it, Cody Gakpo hasn’t done a great deal to justify his continued involvement in the first-XI, with only seven goal contributions in all competitions this term.
| Players | Goal contributions | Minutes per goal contribution |
| Cody Gakpo | 7 | 186.57 |
| Luis Diaz | 18 | 84.11 |
Though, of course, the same could be said for anyone who isn’t Dominik Szoboszlai!
Remarkably, even despite the ludicrous number of issues we’re facing all over the pitch, there isn’t as ginormous a performance gap between Gakpo and Diaz as you might expect.
Which is made even more surprising by the fact that the latter had admitted he’s benefitting from more space and time on the ball in Germany.
| Luis Diaz stats | Cody Gakpo stats |
| 0.59 xG | 0.34 xG |
| 0.21 xA | 0.21 xA |
| 2.28 chances created | 2.15 chances created |
| 1.74 successful dribbles | 1.47 successful dribbles |
| 42.2% dribble success | 55.6% dribble success |
| 0.82 possession won in final third | 0.59 possession won in final third |
| 7.13 touches in opposition box | 6.65 touches in opposition box |
* Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo’s stats in the Bundesliga and Premier League per 90 in the 2025/26 season (Fotmob)
Diaz wouldn’t fix everything going wrong at Liverpool
It would be inexcusable of us to suggest that, had Liverpool retained the Colombian in the summer, we’d be in a much better position.
However, likewise, to suggest certain traits wouldn’t have been of any value to Arne Slot during what has been a horrendous run of results would be unfair.
Evidently, the Dutch head coach agrees to some degree, given that he had reportedly opposed the sale of Luis Diaz to Bayern. If the claim is to be taken seriously, it seems that Richard Hughes went ahead and sanctioned the exit anyway.
Regardless, this isn’t to point an accusing finger at our sporting director; Liverpool’s problems on the pitch are arguably not of the Scot’s making.
Keeping Diaz certainly wouldn’t have fixed our apparent weakness against long, direct balls. Nor a lack of willingness to throw ourselves into 50-50s on the pitch.
But boy, do we miss the 28-year-old’s absolute relentlessness!
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Gakpo and Diaz are 2 different types of players. You cannot compare them. Did Liverpool make a mistake by selling Diaz depends on why they want to sell Diaz without a replacement on the left. Is 65 million good money for a 28 year old or paying him more for a new contract unreasonable? Now that they have encountered the problem and they are trying to sign semenyo for a similar fee. They have to accept that the risk taken did not pay off. Profit and loss is the core in a business.
The reasons for the Diaz transfer have been mentioned on other items. There were personal and professional imperatives.
The news from his homeland was made public and we can’t a club looking to get “on a perch” and setting an example to other clubs, allowing foreign political issues to link us to extortion and crime.
You’re right about Gakpo and Diaz and the different attributes.
Rio’s probably a closer fit for a direct replacement of Diaz’s style, but he isn’t getting the run out at the moment.
I suspect his age/experience and Arne’s need for an inner circle during this rough patch.
Semenyo (if he’s the one we sign to play on the right), is a closer style to what Arsenal have with Madueke/Saka and City with Doku (on City’s left, of course).
He’s stronger and pacier than most LB’s.
As for any price tag, it appears in keeping with what else is going on given his attributes and time left on his B’mouth contract.
As TV money and the market for EPL expands, so do the prices within that market pro rata in a Capitalist world.
The “risk hasn’t paid off” ?
That seems a little too final for me, Red. Thought you would have seen this all before and had the experience of previous footballing soap operas😃….
Mate, the gap between us and the other clubs is widening every week. Even if we accept this risk as it is supposed to be a season of transition, the path we are trakking is a seriously dangerous and steep path that could drop us out of UCL qualification next season and that is a complete disaster. The financial loss will dent our progress for this new talented team. All is still not lost now. We need to buck up, every single Liverpool personnel should be fighting for every game as if it is fighting for their lives.
…and what the whole world falls apart ?
LFC has been in far worse situations with far greater repercussions for the future of the people of this city.
Pal, if you aren’t losing a sense of priority here, then your words might condition others to do so.
This is one season. We MIGHT fail to get UCL, but we MIGHT win the damn thing.
Time will tell and it’s best to keep ourselves and our more powder-keg fellow citizens balanced.
Our opponents are looking to do the opposite.
Was it a mistake selling Diaz? Yes. Are we worse without him? Yes. 14 goals and 8 assists so far for bayern Munich. Only salah was better for us last season. He started pressing, worked harder than any other Liverpool player. Diaz for the record said he was happy at ,Liverpool, so Did his family. So the question here is why would you sell one of your best players who was still under contract at Liverpool. Slot didn’t want to sell him. It was a financial decision , fsg have almost always done it. When a player comes to 29 they look to cash in and bring in young players. Diaz was one of the lowest paid players at Liverpool, he wanted a pay rise, and he deserved one. The plan was to sell Diaz and bring in wirtz. Most Liverpool supporters with a limited knowledge of football would admit that selling Diaz was a massive mistake. It’s been made even worse by the signing of wirtz, who’s been worst signings in the history of the football club. 116 million down the drain. No goals, no assists.
Richard Hughes and Michael Edwards should be sacked for this. Only the clueless will say that Diaz should have been sold, and that wirtz has been a success.