Several of the forwards who’ve propelled Liverpool to Premier League glory this season have been the subject of speculation regarding potential summer exits from Anfield.
Mo Salah has thankfully committed to the Reds for two more years, although several trusted journalists expect Darwin Nunez to move on, while there’s also been transer discourse at times surrounding Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa.
On Friday evening, Sky Sports broke the news that the Colombian is set to commence negotiations with LFC chiefs over a potential new deal once the campaign is finished at the end of May.
A couple of hours later, Jamie Carragher appeared on the broadcaster’s coverage of Manchester City against Wolves, and he was asked for his opinion on Liverpool’s reported plans to enter contractual discussions with the 28-year-old.
Carragher has changed his mind about Luis Diaz
The pundit said (via Sky Sports): “It’s an interesting one. I think you could flip a coin with some people saying they’d love him to sign a new contract or people saying that it might be the time where you get good money for him because he’s at a good age. If you sign him on a new four- or five-year deal, you have that player but you don’t get the resale value in the future.
“I think he’s been one of the best left wingers in the Premier League this season. I don’t think he’s quite Sadio Mane, so in Liverpool supporters’ eyes we haven’t quite replaced or we haven’t got our Mane, if you like, but how many of them is there about?
“If I’m being honest, I think for the majority of this season, up until Christmas, I was thinking you sell Luis Diaz in the summer. I think the way he’s played and the way Liverpool’s front line might change – and with the fact he can now play through the middle in the manager’s eyes – I think he’s going to stay and it might be other players who move on in the front line rather than Luis Diaz.”
Can Diaz spread out his goals more consistently for Liverpool next season?
There seems a strong possibility that Liverpool’s forward line will be refreshed for next season, but which players come and go as part of that replenishment remains to be seen.
A month ago, Diaz might have been on the chopping block after beginning 2025 with a barren spell of only one goal in three months, but an upturn in form since the start of April appears to have been brilliantly timed amid speculation over the future at Anfield.
That hasn’t entirely gone away, with Barcelona still being linked with the Colombian (The Athletic), but we can’t imagine that FSG would want to jettison our third-highest goalscorer of the season, especially when – as Carragher referenced – he’s capable of playing in multiple positions across the forward line.
The 28-year-old’s tally of 12 league goals this term has tended to come in short fruitful bursts rather than being extrapolated consistently throughout the campaign – five in as many games at the outset, then none for three months before three in the week of Christmas; then one in three months before his current sequence of three in four games (Transfermarkt).
The challenge for Diaz will be to keep his numbers high while spreading those more evenly over the course of the season rather than encountering peaks and troughs. If he can crack that conundrum, he could be one of Liverpool’s most crucial players in their bid to retain the Premier League title in 2025/26.
