With the immediate futures of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah up in the air, Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool were always gonna have at the back of their minds, players who could come in immediately and potentially replace them in the long-term.
In such a whirlwind month of transfers, Liverpool were going to sit tight until the summer before adding to their attacking roster. Several players were on their radar, such as Jonathan David from Lille, Leeds United’s Raphinha and RB Salzburg’s high-flying wonderkid Karim Adeyemi.
Though, one player who has long been on their list of targets was FC Porto’s Luis Diaz, but the Columbia international’s release clause of €80million (£66.6million) was viewed as excessive.
However, when Tottenham Hotspur were scouring around their target, opening talks with his agents and attempting to secure his signature, Liverpool immediately thought now was the time to pounce – an opportunity they could not afford to miss.
It was now or never for the club, and the owners Fenway Sports Group funded and sanctioned the move. Liverpool will reportedly pay around €45 million (£37.5million) initially with a further €15 million (£12.5 million) to follow in add-ons.
The 25-year-old winger is enjoying an outstandingly productive season in the Portuguese top-flight, scoring 14 goals and providing four assists in 18 league appearances. In all competitions this term, he has netted 16 in 28 appearances.
Jurgen Klopp has long been an admirer of the live-wire forward but Diaz further enhanced his reputation as one of Europe’s most devastating wingers through his performances against Klopp’s Liverpool and AC Milan during this season’s UEFA Champions League group stage.
Many of the Liverpool faithful will have a rough idea of who Luis Diaz is and how he plays through trawling the internet for compilation videos of his best work. Fans desiring to see how good he is, will certainly have been satisfied with what they have seen.
Born in the town of Barrancas in the north of Colombia, Diaz caught the eye of scouts with his performances in the Indigenous Copa America in Chile in 2015. He grew up as part of the Wayuu, an ethnic group of the Guajira Peninsula, which juts out into the southern Caribbean. Diaz was coached at the tournament by former Colombia international Carlos Valderrama.
A successful trial with Atletico Junior in the nearby city of Barranquilla followed and after signing he was sent to their feeder club, Barranquilla FC, in the country’s second tier.
Those who knew him well then recall a boy who was “ridiculously skinny”. Suffering from malnutrition, he was put on a special plan to help him gain 10 kilos. Slowly he bulked up and was handed his senior debut against Deportivo Pereira in April 2016.
After two seasons with Barranquilla, things really took off when Diaz became a permanent fixture in the senior squad at parent club Junior in 2017.
A fearless winger blessed with tremendous pace, he handled the step up seamlessly, scoring 20 goals in 80 games for the top-flight outfit in the next three campaigns.
After shining for Colombia at under-20s level, Diaz earned his first senior cap against Argentina in September 2018.
He now boasts a record of seven goals in 31 games for his country and was the joint top scorer with Lionel Messi, with four goals, in last summer’s Copa America when Colombia finished third.
Capable of producing moments of breathtaking brilliance, Diaz has taken over the mantle from former Everton star James Rodriguez as the main man his nation looks to for attacking inspiration and creativity.
FC Porto paid €7 million to sign him from Junior in July 2019 on a five-year contract. He was also pursued by Russian giants Zenit Saint Petersburg but countrymen Radamel Falcao and Rodriguez, both former Porto stars, helped convince him to pick the Estadio do Dragao over the Russian club. In total, he has scored 41 goals in 125 games in Portugal.
Luis Diaz is a true live-wire, a player blessed with unstoppable pace, acceleration, trickery, dazzling feet and tremendous power. Technically adept, tactically wise and a pure nightmare for opposing defenders. Just when Liverpool fans had though they’d had enough of that through Diogo Jota, Sadio Mane and Mo Salah, Diaz will add a little sprinkle of South American dust to an enthralling potential forward line.
The 25-year-old’s ability to beat opposition players, to cut inside and finish on either foot or assist his teammates are the hallmarks of his exceptional game making him an exciting talent.
Part of Diaz’s brilliance is that he can play off either foot, so he is extremely hard for defenders to shackle off the ball. Once he sets off with the ball at his feet, he is simply unplayable, attacking open spaces and leaving defenders in his wake.
His favourite move is cutting in off the left and scoring with his right foot, as he has done to such consummate effect for Porto and Colombia. What’s so unique about his game is that he can go either way when taking on his markers, if the defenders feel they can halt his progress coming inside, he is just as devastating going on to his weaker foot. Throughout his career, Diaz has mastered the art of becoming effective on both feet.
Take the two following images for example:
He receives the ball on his right foot, shaping up to cut in and shoot with the same foot, which the defender also expects him to do…
…however, he does the complete opposite, shifting the ball onto his left foot netting Porto’s equaliser to such devastating and consummate effect.
This example proves just how good he is at taking on his man, and being able to perform many various actions with the ball. He isn’t a one-trick pony, but a player blessed with such fine balance, quickness of feet, technique and ball control to fool his marker 9 times out of 10.
His ability off the ball is just as impressive, capable of playing on the last man and timing his runs to perfection. This season, Diaz has managed to mix up his game meaning there are many facets to how he scores and creates. His versatility is also demonstrated in the way he is able to get into the box and score with headers — a knack that his new Anfield teammates Diogo Jota, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane all possess.
Diaz has also shown he is capable of playing in a number of systems but that’s mainly because of the tactical and creative freedom he is afforded. He is regularly deployed on the left in Porto’s 4-4-2 shape, but can also play in Klopp’s 4-3-3 system too, one used by his nation Columbia.
With Klopp providing Mane, Jota and Salah the freedom and responsibility to provide his team with the attacking prowess, Diaz will also be given such liberty in the German’s high-intensity style which suits his game to a tee.
Diaz is enjoying his most prolific season — 0.85 non-penalty goals per 90 is up from 0.32 per 90 on average in the previous two seasons. He’s getting into better areas more consistently. In fact, he compares well to Mo Salah (0.81) and tops Diogo Jota (0.58) – Liverpool’s top two scorers – in such statistics.
The Colombian has scored 29 per cent of Porto’s league goals, underlining his importance to the team. Opta stats shows that his 14 league goals have come from an impressive 12.3 xG.
His shot selection has evidently improved, with far more inside the box this season compared to 2020-21. His xG per shot has nearly doubled from 0.12 last season to 0.20. Simply put, the average probability of his shots resulting in a goal has gone from 12 per cent to 20 per cent. This all shows how much of a potent force Liverpool will be adding to their weaponry, providing Luis Diaz quickly gets up to speed in the Premier League, which under Klopp, will be sure to occur.
Also, a particular component Liverpool fans will surely be excited by is Diaz’ incredible propensity to nutmeg his opponents when taking them on. In the past year across Europe’s top five leagues, as per StatsBomb via FBref, Diaz is listed in the top seven per cent of wingers and attacking midfielders for the number of nutmegs completed.
A skill that sums up the Columbian’s devastating pool of individual abilities. His speed combined with such unerring close control, balance, power and technique all helps make him the master of dribbling. Mo Salah will certainly have a strong competitor in the art of the dribble. He is difficult to read for defenders as shown above.
So how will he fit in at Anfield?
It’s evidently clear he will be lining up amongst any of the three attacking positions, most likely on the left but more importantly, Diaz will provide greater depth as he competes with Mohamed Salah, Mane, Jota, Firmino and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for a starting spot in the front three.
It is the long-term implications of the Luis Diaz move that seems intriguing, and that’s due to the uncertainty in the contract situations of both Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah. Liverpool knew they had to act fast in case the worst did happen in terms of losing either of their trio of stars this summer. Purchasing Diaz seemed the perfect plausible decision.
If no extension is agreed with them then Liverpool will either have to cash in or run the risk of losing them for nothing in 2023, and that is a scenario Klopp will not be looking to entertain.
Liverpool have been tracking Diaz’s progress since his time with Junior in his homeland. That interest went up a level last summer after his eye-catching displays at the Copa America.
Through an array of scouting reports and character references, they built up an extensive analysis of his technical and tactical ability, as well as his strong mentality. Like Salah and Mane, he has scored at the rate of a centre-forward despite operating out wide and there’s a belief he’s the perfect fit for Liverpool, style-wise.
Luis Diaz is a showstopper, a player you’d be desperate to buy tickets for. In the event of either Salah or Mane leaving, Liverpool fans could rest well knowing they have the perfect replacement.
Having only turned 25 on January, Diaz is also in keeping with the club’s strategy of investing in players with a high ceiling who are yet to enter their peak years.
Klopp has often talked about wanting to unearth the next star of world football rather than buying the finished article. Liverpool believe Diaz has huge potential, and there is no reason why the Columbian can’t become one of the world stars under Klopp’s tutelage like his new teammates Salah and Mane.
For now though, the Anfield faithful will be welcoming their new South American star on the block with open arms.
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