Liverpool’s board may now overrule Arne Slot and hand Luis Diaz a new deal at Anfield, according to a fresh update regarding his future.
The Colombian is one of many Reds players whos future remains unknown currently, with some reports claiming that Slot is frustrated with him.
Diaz has been hit-and-miss in a central attacking role this season, scoring a hat-trick against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, but also being too easily marked out of games by teams adopting a low block.
At 28, the Liverpool winger is at a key point in his career, with the Reds needing to decide if they should cash on him this summer or persevere with him.
According to Caught Offside, Slot has “given the green light” for Diaz to depart at the end of the season, but the club’s board could “go over the manager’s head and offer the player a new contract.”
Right time for Liverpool to sell Diaz?
Diaz has undoubtedly been a good player for Liverpool since arriving from Porto midway through the 2021/22 season, with Jurgen Klopp a big admirer during his time in charge, saying of him:
“What a boy, what a story, what a player but he should have scored! He agrees probably. The speed he has is insane. He gets our football 100 per cent. We thought we saw that at Porto. He fits like a glove to our football and that’s really really special.”
There is a nagging feeling that Diaz has never been a world-class player for Liverpool, however, and at 28, there is every chance that he will never reach that level.
With the Colombia international’s current Reds deal expiring in the summer of 2027, now feels like the most logical time to cash in on him, before his value drops the closer his contract gets to running out.
The idea of Diaz staying put at Liverpool is no bad thing, so it wouldn’t be a huge issue if he wasn’t sold, but the brutal reality is that there are younger options out there with higher ceilings, and the Reds need to be ruthless in the summer transfer window.