Luis Diaz has continued to shine at Bayern Munich following his £65.5m move from Liverpool, with the Colombian contributing more direct goals than Arne Slott’s three forwards combined. Diaz’s incredible goal, which helped Bayern draw 2-2 with Union Berlin, was such a stunning finish that teammate Josip Stanisic had to put his hands on his head, taking his tally to 11 goals and five assists (16 contributions) in just 17 appearances.
The Reds, who waved goodbye to Dias, spent more than £300m on Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz. While Dias moved to Bundesliga leaders Bayern, the Liverpool trio had a mixed fortune. Ekitike got off to a great start with six goals and one assist.
But while Isak’s Anfield career has been off to a slow start with just one goal and one assist so far, Wirtz has shown glimpses of his quality and is still looking to improve on his numbers. He hasn’t scored yet, but he has recorded three assists. That means Isaac, Ekitike, and Wirtz collectively managed 12 contributions, four fewer than Diaz alone.
Dias made up for his red card in midweek’s Champions League match against PSG, but before being sent off in Paris he scored a fine goal against Union Berlin and also scored the winning goal. With the never-give-up attitude that marked his Liverpool career, he kept the ball and scored from an acute angle.
And Dias’ explosive performance in Germany has left Liverpool officials a little red-faced. The 28-year-old was allowed to leave as the No. 7 was deemed expensive and expendable. Negotiations over a new contract broke down as the winger wanted higher wages than the Reds were offering. It is also worth noting that he was sold for a profit of £22.5 million, the amount Liverpool paid for him when he signed with Porto in January 2021.
The Colombian forward will turn 29 in January, but Liverpool were wary of paying him a huge salary into his 30s. That’s despite Dias having his best season on Merseyside last season, scoring 17 goals and providing eight assists in all competitions.
He is already looking to surpass his results at Bayern, but some would argue that the Bundesliga is an easier league to play in than the Premier League. Certainly, Dias’ form has raised questions about the logic of selling him, but there is no ill will toward the player from anyone at Liverpool.
The man from Barrancas wore a red shirt and never gave less than 100 percent, saying as he left, “I feel like I’ve done my duty.” Liverpool boss Slott said: “Yes, it was (it’s always a sad day when Dias leaves), but first of all because he always had a smile on his face no matter what. That’s been the case over the year that I’ve been working with him.”
“I played with him a lot, so maybe it’s a little more normal to have a smile on my face! But even when I wasn’t playing with him, he always came out to every training session, smiling and giving his best.”
“Aside from that, I’m going to miss his song very, very, very much because it was probably one of the best songs our fans gave to our players. And of course everything he did to help us win the league.”
“But this is also who we are as a club. We have big signings and have done so over the past few years. But this club also needs to recover money to make transfers that have already crossed the line.”
“We’ve had a big spending summer and I think if everyone looks at the money we’ve brought in so far, it’s good for this club as well as last year when we pretty much just sold players.”
