What a season Liverpool are having. At the beginning of 2024, Jurgen Kloppannounced he would be stepping down as manager of the Reds after an incredible nine-year stint in the role, during which the German returned Liverpool to a position of contending for, and winning, major honours.
His replacement was eventually announced as Arne Slot, who had served as Feyenoord manager before his move to Merseyside. Despite making just two signings, one of which being Giorgi Mamardashvili who is spending this season on loan with Valencia, the Dutchman has made a phenomenal start to life at Anfield, losing just two games out of 25 in all competitions.
Liverpool’s form is the result of a collective team effort, with every player stepping up to ensure they are at their best. One shining light in particular, though, has been Luis Diaz. A natural winger, Slot has often deployed Diaz centrally as the leader of the attacking line, a decision that has seen brilliant results at times.
Diaz has netted 12 goals in 27 appearances so far this season, with eight of those strikes coming in the Premier League. He has shown more consistency this season than in campaigns passed since joining the club in 2022. Diaz nearly made an earlier move to the English North West, though amazingly, it was Evertonwho almost signed him.
Diaz Was Close to Everton Switch
Rafa Benitez, however, chose not to pursue the winger
In an interview with AD Sportwereld, Marcel Brands, the former sporting director of Everton, explained that he had hoped to bring Diaz to Everton in the summer of 2021. As part of the deal, Colombian playmaker James Rodriguezwould have been sent to Porto, where he played between 2010 and 2013.
“I wanted to install my philosophy and structure in the club that would allow Everton to progress, but the decisions from above did not allow it. In the summer of 2021 we were looking to bring Luis Diaz from Porto. I was working hard to get James Rodriguez to go to Porto as part of the deal that would bring Diaz to the club, however, Rafa Benitez ruled against it because he was not sure about the player.”
As Brands explained, the deal never happened as Rafa Benitez, who was Everton’s manager at the time, was unsure if Diaz would be a good fit for his team. As such, the Spaniard, who is better known on Merseyside for his tenure as Liverpool manager, decided against giving the green light to the signing.
Instead, Everton signed Demarai Gray for a much lower price than Diaz would have been available for. The Jamaican international would spend just over two years at Goodison Park before moving to Saudi Arabia in 2023.
Lucho Has Found His Form
Just how good has he been for Liverpool?
Six months after a potential move to Everton was scuppered, Diaz joined Liverpool in the 2021/22 season’s winter transfer window for a deal that could rise to around £50 million including add-ons. The winger established himself in Europe with Porto, who he joined in 2019 from Atletico Junior, a club based in his native Colombia.
Diaz would appear in 13 Premier League games in his debut half-season for the Reds and showed glimpses of the player he would grow into. The Colombian struggled to massively improve his numbers in the following season, but it was a term in which Diaz suffered a knee injury that severely disrupted his form.
Lucho, as he is popularly known, was able to complete a full season for Liverpool, untroubled by injury, across the 2023/24 term. However, it was only in the second half of that campaign that he saw an upturn in form, with five of his eight goals and all five of his assists in that season coming on or after Boxing Day.
This season, it feels as though Diaz is finally showcasing the player that Liverpool have always known he could be. He has already matched his best-ever goal tally in a single Premier League season for the Reds and has showcased his quality in more than one position.
Though, as a whole, Diaz’s form in continental competition could perhaps improve, it is not as if he has done little in the Champions League. His first 90-minute game in Europe this season came against Bayer Leverkusen, a match in which Diaz netted a hat-trick as Liverpool continued their flawless run in the newly-formatted league stage of the competition.
Statistics in this article are courtesy of Transfermarkt. Correct as of 18-01-25.
