The logic behind Liverpool’s decision to sell Luis Diaz | OneFootball

Luis Diaz gave up a shirt worn by some of Liverpool’s previous greats two years ago. He swapped from the No 23, donned by a young Robbie Fowler and then Jamie Carragher, for the more iconic No 7. He offered to personally reimburse fans who had bought the old shirt.

The probability now is that he won’t be making a similar offer. Diaz is giving up the number made prestigious by Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish and Luis Suarez, trading the red shirt of Liverpool for the red of Bayern Munich. He had first asked to leave in 2024. He is getting his wish a year later.

Diaz won’t go down as one of Liverpool’s definitive No 7s; though his departure could allow someone else – Florian Wirtz, maybe – to be one.

Nor, though, was he miscast, as Harry Kewell was. After James Milner’s eight-season stay as the incongruous No 7, an unflashy odd-job man sometimes filling in at full-back in a flair player’s shirt, Diaz at least felt a player in its traditions.

Liverpool’s owners, Fenway Sports Group, may feel he represents a piece of business in their best traditions. The chances are that they were frustrated to lose too many players on free transfers – often success stories, which made Jurgen Klopp loyal to them, in Roberto Firmino, Gini Wijnaldum, Divock Origi, Adam Lallana, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita, but they are cashing in on Diaz.

A £65.5m sale to Bayern would, some might say, fund about half of Alexander Isak’s possible cost. It certainly represents a £22.5m profit on his purchase price; Liverpool nipped in ahead of Tottenham to buy Diaz just as, more recently, they pinched Hugo Ekitike after Newcastle had bid for him.

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Bayern Munich have prized Luis Diaz away from Liverpool (PA Archive)

They may take satisfaction in that Diaz was not paid superstar wages: indeed, talks about a new deal broke down with the winger wanting more than the club were willing to pay. His next contract always promised to be the biggest of his career. Bayern will pay it to a player who turns 29 in January. If a forward who requires a physical edge to torment defenders declines, it will not be on Liverpool’s watch or their wage bill. Sadio Mane joined Bayern from Liverpool soon after his 30th birthday and soon looked a diminished force.

If there is a theory Liverpool got the best years of Diaz’s career, there may be an asterisk attached to that. His best was superb, and yet his return of 41 goals in 148 games is decent but scarcely comparable with Mohamed Salah’s output.

Diaz’s first few months at Anfield featured two cup finals in which he was arguably the best player on the pitch and yet both finished 0-0: against Chelsea in the 2022 Carabao and FA Cup games at Wembley. There were times when his influence was not reflected on the scoresheet. Arne Slot’s surprise decision to reinvent Diaz as a striker last season brought a career-best 17 goals, some of them a centre-forward’s tap-ins. They nevertheless came in flurries amid droughts, and the presumption is that Bayern have earmarked him for a role back on the flanks, rather than replacing Harry Kane.

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Diaz won the Premier League with Liverpool last season (PA Wire)

Diaz’s most devastating display last season came in his more familiar position: he kick-started Slot’s reign by eviscerating Manchester United at Old Trafford in August. One of Slot’s standout Champions League results came courtesy of Diaz, too, with his hat-trick in the 4-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen.

So his quality was apparent, even if Slot’s tendency to view Cody Gakpo solely as a left winger invited questions about what happened when other centre-forward options arrived, as Ekitike has done. The question that may remain unanswered is what Diaz might have done in a full, uninterrupted campaign.

His 2024-25 was split between time in the centre and the wings. His 2023-24 was affected by the trauma of his parents being kidnapped in Colombia. He scored an emotional late equaliser at Luton while his father was still missing, but only he can say how much of a toll that time took out of him.

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Luis Diaz during Liverpool’s pre-season tour (REUTERS)

His 2022-23 season was marred by five months on the sidelines with a knee problem. It came, too, after his auspicious first half-season and then, amid the team’s troubles, some fine form in the autumn of 2022. Even in the 4-1 demolition suffered at the hands of Napoli, one of the lowest points of Klopp’s reign, Diaz was outstanding.

At that stage, it seemed possible to envisage him becoming a Liverpool great. He won’t leave as one, though interest from Barcelona and a status as Bayern’s third most expensive signing ever indicate that he can be one of the game’s finest wingers. Liverpool may feel Diaz could be scintillating, but his brilliance was sporadic. Maybe that is in part the nature of his position. But he wasn’t consistent across campaigns and, as his willingness to leave and the interest in him indicated, he wouldn’t be a constant presence for years.