Luis Diaz has exploded into form right at the start of the season for Liverpool, scoring three goals and adding another assist in his first three Premier League games of the campaign.
The Colombia winger netted twice in the weekend win against Manchester United at Old Trafford following his goal against Brentford the week before.
It’s been a stunning beginning for the 27-year-old under Arne Slot with the former Porto winger making the left-sided position in attack his own following months of transfer speculation.
Read more: Diaz reveals HARD TRUTH about Salah contract
Liverpool had been linked with top quality stars such as Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Nico Williams and Anthony Gordon as potential recruits for the left wing but came up empty handed in the transfer market.
Additionally, Diaz was slated for an Anfield exit, heading off to the Copa America under a cloud of transfer rumours with Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain reportedly contending for his signature.
Diaz has a contract until 2027 at Anfield and signed an estimated £50,000 per week deal when he transferred from Porto in 2022.
Slot’s impressive track record
It’s understood that Diaz would like a better contract but Liverpool have so far resisted the temptation to extend terms.
That led to Barca and PSG believing that Diaz was an achievable transfer target but neither side was capable of assembling a bid that came close to matching Liverpool’s reported asking price.
Luis Diaz Man Utd Liverpool 2024-25
Ultimately Diaz stayed put to work under new coaching recruit Slot, who was famed for improving the players at his disposal during his three-year Feyenoord tenure.
Among those groomed for multimillion euro transfers under his tutelage was Diaz’s fellow Colombian Luis Sinisterra, who banked Feyenoord some £21m when he moved to Leeds.
Diaz enjoys one-on-one sessions with Slot
And now it appears that Diaz is benefitting from intense coaching on the part of Slot with his form in pre-season and the early part of the campaign being put down to extra attention on the part of the Dutchman.
Lewis Steele of the Daily Mail writes that much of the credit for Diaz’s improvements can be laid at the door of Slot, who has been conducting one-on-one sessions with the wideman at the AXA Training Centre.
Slot, 45, has focussed on helping Diaz improve his ‘off-the-ball positioning’, according to Steele, as well as ‘when to make runs and choosing the right time to pass or shoot’.
Did Slot save Diaz’s Liverpool career?
It took Diaz until JANUARY of last season to reach the three goals and one assist mark that he has collected in the first three games of this season.
That, surely, is down to the genius interventions of the new head coach.
And given the reports that Liverpool were open to selling Diaz at the right price – combined with fan sentiment around his lack of end product – those one-on-one sessions might well have SAVED Diaz’s Liverpool career.
And after Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold, new sporting director Richard Hughes might soon be turning his attention to a bumper new deal for the Colombian hotshot.
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