So You Want to Sell Luis Díaz?
Many Liverpool supporters are assuming Luis Díaz will be sold this summer. Are you sure about that?
The summer transfer market hasn’t technically opened yet, but Luis Díaz has already been sold by Liverpool. Well, not really, but you’d think that was the case based on some of the narratives doing the rounds online.
I’m included in this. I’ve talked about the sale of Díaz almost like it’s inevitable, but it’s definitely not. As always, there are pros and cons attached to his future.
So with everybody talking about selling him to Paris Saint-Germain or Barcelona in the coming months, I think we need to realise that him remaining on Merseyside really wouldn’t be the end of the world. In fact, if it happens, we should all be pretty fine with it.
Last season, Virgil van Dijk played a lot of minutes in the Premier League, just like he always does. The Reds skipper amassed 3,177 minutes on the pitch, placing him top of Liverpool’s squad.
Guess who finished second. It wasn’t Mohamed Salah, who is known for being indestructible. It wasn’t Alexis Mac Allister, either, who ended up shattered for the home stretch because he apparently played too often.
Nope, it was Díaz. That guy on the left wing who never stops running and plays the sport like he’s just had a bowl of creatine for breakfast, yeah, he accumulated the second-most minutes for Liverpool.
The Colombian had a big injury not long ago, sure, but don’t let that distract you from the fact that he’s available a lot. Such a quality matters more than we realise because when Liverpool suffer from injuries, that is when they struggle.
So straight away, you’ve got a forward who is fit and healthy most of the time, which we like. Next, his age. One of the reasons he’s already been sold by many supporters is because he’s 27 years old.
This is a tricky one. I’m generally in favour of sales once players hit the age of 27, mainly because in the case of Díaz, for example, I think it’s now reasonable to suggest he’s not going to become the next Salah.
If Díaz was going to explode and become that stupidly good attacker who wins games on his own, I think he would’ve made that leap by now, but nevertheless, what we all seem to be forgetting is that he’s still really good.
A Ballon d’Or award seems unlikely to end up in his living room, but he’s not a player who is costing you points every season, and he’s perfect for your playing style, so it’s not like you need to kick him out the door.
We know 27 isn’t young, but it isn’t old, either. He’s still got a good few seasons at this level left in the tank, especially considering he’s only played about 18,000 minutes in his career. For perspective, Vinicius Júnior has already played 20,400 minutes, and he’s four years younger than our man.
Also, upon inspection of his contract, his wage is perfectly ordinary at £55k per week, and he’s still got three years left on his deal. Are you sure you want to sell him?
Now for the most important stuff. The stuff that he’s doing on the pitch. I get it, he scores less than all of our forwards. And his expected output is the worst of Liverpool’s five options, too.
Trust me, though, that doesn’t mean he’s bad. The South American is quite an elite carrier and dribbler, he offers more width than any other Reds forward, and he still contributes with decent overall numbers.
Below, every forward from Europe’s top seven leagues has been plotted according to his successful dribbles and progressive carries per 90. Only players who amassed over 1,350 minutes last term have been included, no age limit.
Díaz isn’t an outlier per se, but his spot is decent. Players who are near to him include Rodrygo, Pedro Neto, Takefusa Kubo and Leon Bailey. It’s also worth noting that if he was playing in the Eredivisie, he’d probably be finding it just as easy as Yankuba Minteh.
Last season, his non-penalty xG per 90 was pretty much the same as that posted by Leroy Sané, and it was marginally better than Gabriel Martinelli and Rafael Leão. If Liverpool got linked to any of those guys, every supporter would be over the moon with excitement.
A player who I’ve talked about a lot so far this summer is Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. He’s boss, and he’s four years younger than Díaz while holding the potential to do a Salah by exploding soon.
But, if you ignore his age, there is an element of selling one to buy the other that does feel a bit pointless. It would be a bit like redecorating your house to change the colours of the walls from magnolia to beige. Like, cool, one might be a bit trendier right now, but was it really worth the hassle?
Díaz and Kvaratskhelia play in the same position, and they are both good at the same things for the most part. In fact, FBref.com has a similar players tool based on underlying numbers over the past 365 days. The most similar player to Díaz? Kvaratskhelia, of course, followed by Leão.
The point I’m making is sometimes, due to the desperate search for something new, you can forget what you’ve already got at home. The guy already representing Liverpool is pretty good, maybe things around him just need to be tweaked for him to really thrive.
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