Big decision coming on him this summer.
New contract or sell?
Sell. Especially if we can get a good price. His running with the ball is literally the only thing going for him. Outside of that, he contributes absolutely nothing of worth.
He's also in the prime of his career, he ain't no youngster. He's the complete antithesis of what a Klopp players should be. He's nowhere near the press, link up and general teamwork is atrocious, contributing nothing deeper in midfield meaning we lack control in that area. Our counters are terrible primarily because he's so slow with the ball too. What he lacks is precisely what Mane offered.
All he does is run around aimlessly with no end product, and with his father constantly making eyes at Barca and Madrid without any firm commitment from Diaz, it makes you question whether he would die for the shirt and is merely using us to put himself in the shop window for them.
I can't be backing players like that and they're not worth my support and energy, using their families to sound out other clubs and it kind of sums up the malaise with a lot of these players - they lack the ruthlessness, they're clearly not dedicated to the club and they just don't feel like Liverpool players in the way Mane or Firmino are, who would run through a brick wall for us.
If we get a great offer, we'd be silly not to sell. He's a good player, but on his wages, we can't afford to have him on the bench. Problem is he's not good enough to be a starter, again a question that is being asked of Nunez and Gakpo.
Speaking in the same terms as the two other mentioned, it tells us how our recruitment of forwards in recent years has been an utter shambles. Good players individually but you can't help but feel they are incredibly disjointed and disrupts any cohesion and rhythm in the side. If it was led by our recruitment team who bought them, then that's a major concern. If the signings were led by the coaching team, then they have to take the brunt of this failure. If the latter, then its perhaps a relief that Edwards and co are doubling down on empowering the DoF role further. That department are paid millions to precisely assist in building a cohesive team that aligns with the head coaches tactics, it's folly to take any of those responsibilities away from them given they have all the time and energy to invest in such recruitment (which a manager does not).
I'm perfectly happy for Liverpool to have a 'head coach' who focuses purely on coaching and delegate all responsibility on player targeting and acquisition to the DoF.
