Anfield Watch
·15 February 2026
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·15 February 2026
Liverpool had a truly incredible offer under consideration in the summer. Arne Slot would have been thrilled.
Liverpool made some gigantic decisions in the summer. Well, really, those decisions started before the summer even rolled around.
The Reds decided to renew the contracts of both Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah for two more years. Those contracts kept the pair on enormous money but after the seasons they'd just had, Liverpool had little choice.
But the spending certainly didn't stop there. The club broke their transfer record to sign Florian Wirtz before June, then broke it again at the end of the window with Alexander Isak.
There were record spends at both left-back and right-back. Hugo Ekitike arrived for a massive fee, too.
And it turns out that Liverpool thought about one more huge spend before ultimately deciding not to.
Luis Diaz had a contract at Liverpool until 2027 but, importantly, remained on the initial deal he signed when joining the club in 2022. He wasn’t paid at the level of other players at his standing - and that made negotiations difficult as the Colombian wanted a massive pay rise.
Liverpool ultimately decided to sell Diaz to Bayern Munich and did get a new fee. But the Telegraph claims they considered giving him that lucrative new contract.
They claim that in wanting to repay Diaz for the years of being ‘underpaid’, Liverpool contemplated a contract that 'could have totalled around £400,000’. Salah money, in other words.
It’s no great surprise that Liverpool decided against that but we also wonder if Arne Slot wishes they went with it. He’s bemoaned the lack of Diaz this season.
“You always miss good players,” Slot said of Díaz this week. “He was so important for us last season."
And he really was. The winger was really the only player who sought-out one-v-ones and offered true direct dribbling that the squad now lacks.
Liverpool didn’t replace him, after all. A decision that may, ultimately, cost them more than that contract was worth.









































