Ian Wright has claimed that Luis Diaz no longer feels like a new signing at Liverpool, which is counting against them.
Speaking on The Kelly & Wrighty Show on Optus Sport, Wright claimed the Reds need some fresh legs in the side. As a result of Diaz being at the club since last January, the pundit thinks he may have been signed six months too early.
“It’s the kind of scenario that is building where you need a couple of really good signings to give the dressing room a lift,” said Wright.
“I think that bringing in Diaz while Mane was there, it took the shine off of it. Because you’re not going ‘oh look at him’ because Mane is gone now, Diaz is injured and it doesn’t feel like there is a new signing to give them a lift.”
We understand Wright’s point. But without Diaz, Liverpool arguably wouldn’t have won the silverware they did last season.
Liverpool missing Diaz impact
In football, as in life, timing plays a massive part. Wright is spot on in saying that had Diaz been brought in during the summer window, there would be more excitement around him now.
Perhaps the impact that he had in January is something that Liverpool would be feeling now, instead.
But that would be to ignore what Diaz did for his new club last season. The impetus his near-£38m signing injected was one of the key reasons that the Reds so very nearly won the quadruple.
In the end, he couldn’t get them over the line. But Liverpool had already started to wane before he was brought in. Without the Colombian, they’d likely have been nowhere near the double they eventually secured.
Diaz on the comeback trail
So, it’s swings and roundabouts really. Although it’s hard to ignore the fact that a summer window containing the arrivals of Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz would have generated much more buzz around the club.
It would also have played into feelings of a new start at Anfield. Instead, things have been left feeling decidedly stale.
Of course, it doesn’t help that Liverpool’s flying No.23 is currently out injured. With him out of the side and Nunez a little bit hit-and-miss, there’s an appearance of decay.
Judging by Diaz’s Instagram though, he’s well on the comeback trail. Once he’s back and lighting up the pitch, we’ll all remember that it doesn’t matter when Liverpool signed him. The important thing is that they did.
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