His value has risen £45m at Anfield: Liverpool must sell their new Luis Diaz

Liverpool supporters have been banging the same drum over the past several months, angling to see Arne Slot sacked after a wretched second year in charge at Anfield.

However, FSG have maintained the faith in the Dutch coach, who lifted the Premier League last season and was crowned the division’s Player of the Year. Whether that will be fortuitous for the Reds in the long run remains to be seen, but Slot has at least put Liverpool in a strong position to qualify for the Champions League, four games away from the summer break.

If Slot is to stay, he is going to need to ring the changes this summer, but he must work with his superiors and ensure that Liverpool are more accurate this time around.

Despite sweeping changes in 2025, Liverpool made one or two rogue calls, such as selling Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich and failing to replace the unique winger.

Luis Diaz’s post-Liverpool form

Diaz had been a constant threat throughout his three-and-a-half years with Liverpool. He had come into his own under Slot’s wing last year, scoring 17 goals and providing eight assists in all competitions as he flitted between the left and a makeshift centre-forward berth.

However, with his contract winding down, the decision was made for him to leave, and those on Merseyside may well be rueing that decision, given how Diaz’s season has gone in comparison to Liverpool’s.

For Vincent Kompany’s Bayern, the Colombian, 29 years old, has posted 26 goals and 21 assists across all competitions, instrumental in the German’s Champions League title charge.

Yes, the Premier League is more intense than the Bundesliga. Yes, Diaz is sharper alongside forwards who cater perfectly to his rip-roaring physical take on the winger’s game. And yet, the Liverpool persuasion have been left scratching their heads over Lucho’s form, and the decision from FSG to sell him.

Nobody could have foreseen how steep Liverpool’s fall would have been this season, but it was certainly a risk to have sold Diaz and not replaced him on the left wing. Cody Gakpo has been dreadful this season, so one-dimensional and predictable.

Banking £65.5m for a player who was nearing the end of their contract and who turns 30 in 2027? That’s good business, and it underlines the shrewdness of the decision.

Less astute was sporting director Richard Hughes’ decision against directly replacing him – as well as Slot’s hesitance in handing the bright Rio Ngumoha regular match action earlier in the campaign.

Liverpool must ensure that they do not repeat the same old mistakes this summer, for a potential big-money sale looks like he could be Diaz 2.0.

Liverpool must finally sell the new Luis Diaz

Liverpool need to make changes this summer, and given the (successive) scale of the Anfield club’s rebuild, it might be necessary for Alexis Mac Allister.

The 27-year-old has been a key cog in Jurgen Klopp and then Slot’s system, but he’s been at the rotten core of the outfit’s downfall this year, inexplicably bereft of his physicality and intensity and swagger in the engine room.

Whereas the former Brighton star, who Klopp signed for £35m, was once the most trusted lieutenant in Liverpool’s midfield, he has now been superceded by Dominik Szoboszlai, and his weak defending and lack of incisiveness on the ball do suggest that change might be best for all parties at this point.

The statistics do not paint a pretty picture, and Mac Allister might be better off leaving this summer, two years away from the end of his contract.

If reports are to be believed, then there is plenty of interest in Mac Allister’s signature. According to The Times, the Argentinian midfielder’s future is in doubt, but Liverpool would expect to receive offers worth £80m for them to consider his sale.

Should suitors, who reside in Spain’s biggest footballing quarters, act on their interest, Liverpool would make £45m profit on a player who has been essential to the multi-title-winning successes under different managers.

He may well return to his former superstar level out on the continent, and in that, he would echo Diaz’s triumph in leaving Liverpool for a new challenge.

However, Liverpool would kick themselves if they persisted with Mac Allister next year and he continued to struggle. This time, FSG must get his replacement sorted. Reports suggest that Liverpool are exploring a move for Crystal Palace maestro Adam Wharton…