Why renewing Luis Diaz's contract will BENEFIT Liverpool in the long-term | OneFootball

Luiz Diaz's future at Liverpool is a polarising issue and the debate will go on all summer long.

It is clear that the Colombian has under-performed this season, and in the context of uncertainty regarding his contract, it is clear that he has done himself no favours.

Furthermore, Liverpool seem to hold all the aces with Cody Gakpo already excelling in his place.

His contract is not set to end until 2027, although the murmurings suggest that he is willing to make the club's decision for them if he is not hopeful that a resolution can be found this summer.

But the impact of losing Diaz this season would be massive and it is an aspect of this saga which has been largely overlooked so far in discussions about Liverpool's transfer moves.

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Hughes and Edwards must tread carefully with Diaz's future

Anfield Watch understands that Diaz is going to be assessed this summer alongside Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota ahead of potential summer moves. By and large, the Reds' frontline has been under-whelming.

But despite already having Gakpo in the position, Diaz would surely need to be replaced if he were to depart, and in the grand scheme of things, that transfer would fall way down on our priority list.

A left-back, a right-back, a centre-back, a striker and probably a defensive midfielder are all more important signings this season. This is because one of Andy Robertson or Kostas Tsimikas will leave, further depth at centre-back is required to back-up Ibrahima Konate - who himself might go - and Trent Alexander-Arnold is all-but confirmed to be heading to Real Madrid when his contract expires.

Moreover, while Ryan Gravenberch has excelled as Liverpool's No.6, the fact remains that his workload will need to be managed better next season and an understudy will help relieve that.

And then, when you consider that both Jota and Nunez have under-delivered, it would be criminal if a striker wasn't bought this summer. Those five signings are already proving to be fairly expensive.

So while the club's budget for such an ambitious summer should be significant, it certainly isn't endless and a bit of context might need to be added to Diaz's season and his potential successors.

At 28 years old, it is clear that we are at the make or break point of Diaz's career. His 16 goals and five assists in 3161 minutes haven't been as impressive as we might have hoped - despite it being the best season of his Liverpool career.

Looked at in isolation, his efforts suggest a player that is performing at a higher level than £55,000 a week, but his contract demands of £140,000 a week would put him alongside Nunez and Jota who haven't pulled their weight enough. Gakpo, however, is on £120,000 a week (per Capology).

According to the latest reports, Diaz is admired by Barcelona as well as a number of Saudi clubs, with a fee or valuation of £70m being rumoured - which would be remarkable.

If such a proposal comes in, then I would have no problem with the club cashing in, regardless of what the consequences would be for Arne Slot's squad. But it would be naive to suggest that his departure would not have any side-effects whatsoever.

The only secure players in Liverpool's attacking squadron are Mohamed Salah and Gakpo; a striker or two might come in to replace Jota and Nunez, but as mentioned earlier, a left-winger won't be a priority.

So in terms of sheer numbers and depth, Diaz's presence would make a difference next season.

And if you still think that Diaz could feasibly be replaced this summer, then you might want to take a closer look at what the market opportunities are like right now.

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Real Madrid's Rodrygo is available, although €100m is the rumoured fee. Likewise, PSG's Bradley Barcola was only signed two years ago and is estimated to have a value of €72m (per Football Transfers), and then we have Anthony Gordon at Newcastle who had a £75m asking price last season.

In the Premier League, both Kaoru Mitoma at Brighton and Antoine Semenyo would also fit the brief in terms of attacking profile and age, but both have their own uniques challenges.

Mitoma, for example, is just one year younger than Diaz, and he has only delivered 18 goal contributions over the last two seasons combined - 4952 minutes. While he could easily perform better in a higher quality team, there are concerns about his ability to become a world-beater.

And then with Semenyo, Bournemouth have slapped a £70m asking price on his head, and Liverpool are already heavily interested in two other Cherries' players - Dean Huijsen and Milos Kerkez.

One of the only other plausible option could be Jamie Gittens at Borussia Dortmund, who would add youthful exuberance to the squad while also qualifying as a homegrown asset which would help Liverpool meet their quotas. The only problem there being that his asking price ranges anywhere from £35m (per Talksport) to £85m (per Football Insider) - a bidding war for the 20-year-old feels inevitable.

As such, replacing Diaz is inherently problematic. But that does not mean that I am advocating for Diaz to be given a free ride moving forward. Ideally, we need to bring in a young high-potential winger to fill his role, but in reality, that is more likely to be Liverpool's long-term vision.

In the short-term, a more sensible decision could be made instead. My proposal here is that Diaz gets a pay-rise that puts him closer in line with Gakpo, and perhaps a year is added to his deal which would take his potential stay to 2028.

That way, the intention could still be to sell him eventually, but his future would be safe for next season, when there might be a little more wiggle room in the budget to sufficiently replace him.

Otherwise, the danger is this; selling him without anyone joining with other way, leaving us short in attacking depth, or spending reckless amounts of money on an unsuitable panic-buy solution.