Liverpool FC News: Why a Luis Diaz exit now looks INEVITABLE

Liverpool are facing significant contract pressure ahead of next summer with Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk.

All three see their contracts expire in 2025 and so far no breakthrough has been made with any of them in negotiations. But there are also contracts to be sorted out for players whose terms stretch beyond 2025 including Ibrahima Konate, who is out of contract in 2026.

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And while tying up the Frenchman is reported to be the club’s next priority after the aforementioned trio, there has been also plenty of noise made around Luis Diaz. The 27-year-old has been with Liverpool since the start of 2022, inking a deal until 2027 when he signed from Porto.

He agreed to a deal reported to be in the region of £50,000 per week at the time - relatively low for a top-six first-team player and remains on that contract ever since.

Attempts to renegotiate his deal have thus far come to nothing. However with time running out on his contract and no breakthrough in talks, it will soon come time for sporting director Richard Hughes and owners FSG to make a decision.

Do they want to be stuck with a depreciating asset until 2027 with no chance of making back any of the reported £37.5m they paid for him?

Do they want to renew Diaz’s deal at a salary far above what he is currently being paid?

If the answer to either of those questions is ‘No’ then it looks like a parting of the ways is inevitable sooner rather than later.

Anfield Watch exclusively revealed that Diaz seeking around £140,000 per week to negotiate a contract and that is also the figure AC Milan have been quoted in exploratory talks. While the Rossoneri would like Diaz to replace Rafael Leao should he be sold at a future juncture, they simply cannot go that high with their salary offer.

And, in the cold light of day, Liverpool probably shouldn’t either.

Diaz’s hand for a new deal was strongest earlier in the season. He scored FIVE goals in his first five Premier League games of the new campaign under Arne Slot, adding another assist. He appeared a player reborn under the Dutchman, finding consistency where once there had been frustrations on the part of supporters.

But his output has fallen alarmingly since then.

He is without a goal since scoring two against Bournemouth on the fifth matchday of the Premier League season, with only one assist to his name in the nine games since.

In the Champions League a barren spell is masked by a hat-trick against Bayer Leverkusen, the only European game he has scored or assisted in this term.

In the EFL Cup there was a goal against Brighton in the fourth round but that strike was overshadowed by the performance of Cody Gakpo, his left-wing rival, who scored two.

Indeed it appears now that Slot sees Diaz as a relief pitcher up front as much as he sees him as a left-winger with Gakpo decisively emerging as a more reliable player in that position.

Media in his native Colombia is sufficiently concerned about the situation that the talk is Liverpool and Diaz’s camp have halted contract negotiations with the player reportedly ready to leave.

In his current form Diaz might have reason to believe he’s worth more than £50k a week but the club would do well to hold firm to their valuation. They weren’t tempted to offered a new deal when Diaz was on his hot streak and there is no reason to believe they will be now.

And that means that they are likely to shop Diaz around while his price remains high and he has two-and-a-half years on his contract. Should he remain a Liverpool player beyond next summer his value will fall accordingly.

Two teams in Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona have previously lodged their interest while it’s now known that Milan would take him - albeit not at any price.

Diaz is 27, still in his prime, and shouldn’t struggle to attract attention in the market. However for Liverpool the best time to sell is probably January or next summer if needs be. It looks like a split is inevitable because Diaz is not going to get what he wanted.

And Liverpool will learn their lessons from Alexander-Arnold, Salah and Van Dijk. They won’t let anyone walk for free.

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