Your assessment of Luis Diaz’s second full season at Liverpool will probably vary based on your general impression of the player.
Some people find excitement and a reason to be on the edge of their seats when there are turns, twists, and the occasional eye-catching goal. The Anfield faithful are enormous fans of his work ethic, flair, and willingness to run himself to the ground.
Conversely, other observers argue that a more prolific left-sided forward is required based on his stats, which show that he scores goals about every four games (24 goals in 98).
At least Diaz did not suffer from the injuries that dogged his previous campaign, when he had to undergo surgery and lost months of play; but, the international player from Colombia had to live through the nightmare of witnessing his father abducted in his native country back in October.
After missing matches against Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth, Liverpool gave their No. 11 enough time and space to process the situation with his family. However, on November 5, the South American showed bravery by not only declaring himself for the trip to Luton Town but also coming off the bench to score a late equalizer.
Though the Reds star’s late header had stolen the biggest win of his league career from him, Luton captain Tom Lockyer was so impressed with Diaz that he felt obliged to rush over to the forward at the final whistle to show his respect. It was a sweet moment that went beyond in-game rivalries.
“Jurgen Klopp stated after the game, ‘It is amazing he wanted to be here. “That’s it, for us a super-important goal and for him very important and emotional, but that’s it.”
The fact that Darwin Nunez and Alexis Mac Allister accompanied Diaz as his security detail as they exited past the gathered media and left Kenilworth Road spoke volumes about the group’s friendship, especially the South American contingent, who are all very tight at Anfield.
That occurred just over a month after Diaz’s apparent “goal” was mistakenly awarded for one of the biggest mistakes in the history of Premier League games involving VAR assistance.
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When the winger bounded free from Mohamed Salah’s ball and finished expertly, it was evidently onside; yet, the offside flag was incorrectly hoisted. Even though Diaz was not offside, the goal could not stand according to VAR’s images. Understandably, Liverpool was incensed after losing 2-1 to a stoppage-time own goal while playing with nine men at the end of the game.
Although Diaz’s goal to eliminate Arsenal in an FA Cup match at the Emirates in early January was well-taken, it was only his second goal in more than two months, which prompted a more thorough examination of his contributions in terms of sheer numbers.
Later that month, Diaz was outstanding in a demolition of Chelsea, scoring late from Nunez’s excellent cross to give the Londoners two goals against them after scoring at Stamford Bridge on the first day.
But it was the 1-1 draw with Manchester City in March that might have captured the enigma surrounding Diaz the best. A bewildered Kyle Walker was given the runaround by the former Porto star, who did for the visiting squad what few had done before him. In one particularly clever play, the England player and his teammate Ruben Dias were left perplexed along City’s right flank. The fact that Pep Guardiola’s team managed to hold on for a draw, however, was largely due to two excellent opportunities that Diaz missed in the second half.
The attacker opened the score in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United in April, but an awful month overall ended the team’s hopes of winning the Carabao Cup again, which Diaz had started in February against Chelsea at Wembley. He concluded the season with 13 goals in 51 games, and that was his final goal of the campaign.
Links outside of Anfield are still intriguing, with Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain being mentioned as potential destinations. The Ligue 1 winners are rumored to be looking for a left-sided frontman, so perhaps the rumors linking him with Real Madrid will fade now that they signed Kylian Mbappe on a free transfer from PSG.
In order to raise money and create space in the roster for Liverpool’s No. 11, Barca is reportedly planning to move for Diaz by selling former Leeds United winger Raphinha, according to a report published on Thursday by the Spanish daily Mundo Deportivo.
The issue is that the Colombian international, known as “cafetero,” is under contract with the English team through 2027. And that suggests that in order to hire him, a large investment would need to be made. Barca is rather upfront about it and has determined who might hold the key to the operation: Raphinha.
“According to the sporting director and his assistants, right now the Colombian is at a perfect age, with a lot of personality to face powerful opponents and technical quality and power to unbalance on the left wing and also wear himself out in pressing and defensive coverage.”
Despite being one of the team’s lowest paid players, Diaz may believe that his efforts merit more talks about new terms, but it’s hard to evaluate his time at Liverpool after two and a half years of play. Capable of magnificent, but maybe in too ephemeral of moments right now. I’m in for an interesting summer now.