‘Goodness me, what a footballer’: Lineker among the pundits in awe of Liverpool star today

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Gary Lineker was among the BBC pundits who had praise for Luis Diaz today as he shone for Liverpool. The Colombian is making waves.

Luis Diaz didn’t score for Liverpool against Manchester City on Saturday but he certainly made an impression. The winger was a livewire, constantly forcing problems onto City with his running and skill.

There were times when Pep Guardiola’s side just couldn’t handle Diaz as he sought to cut inside with the ball. What really sticks out is how quickly the Colombian changes direction with a flick or a stop – it’s incredible at times.

Diaz has added a wonderful new dimension to Liverpool’s already world-class attack. Few thought anyone could do that, let alone a player who didn’t have a world-beating reputation a year ago.

But the rise of Diaz has been extraordinary and the pundits in the BBC Sport studio certainly agree. They were quite in awe of the Liverpool man.

“Goodness me, what a footballer he is,” said Gary Lineker.

“Full of running, he plays free, no fear,” said Danny Murphy. “He’s physically capable, he’s quick – both ways – more than willing to work and run in behind.

“To walk into a club like Liverpool and just have the self-belief, midseason, to play with the kind of players he’s playing with. He’s not been intimidated. We were talking earlier about [Jack] Grealish moving to City and feeling a bit [intimidated]. Certainly not this fella.”

“He’s tough, he’s brave – been some crunching tackles on him,” said Alan Shearer. “Just gets up and says ‘no problem, just keep giving me the ball'”.

Luis Diaz for Liverpool

The glorious thing about Diaz right now is that he doesn’t need to score – or even assist, actually – to impact a game. He can simply drag defences apart with his pace and skill. It’s a wonderful addition to the Liverpool attack.

Not only that but his defensive work has been at the top level already. Integrating into Liverpool’s well-established press is supposed to be incredibly different. Not for Diaz, it seems.

And at 25, Diaz will be doing this for a long time to come. We’re incredibly excited about the next four or five years because if this is his start, just how good can he become?