Wirtz Arrival Signals Time to Sell Luis Díaz and Reshape Liverpool’s Attack | OneFootball

Time to Go: Luis Díaz and the Wirtz-Driven Reshuffle

It’s hard not to feel a tinge of admiration for Luis Díaz. The Colombian arrived in a broken season some years ago, lit up Anfield with his explosive running and tireless pressing, and gave Liverpool fans fleeting reminders of what peak Klopp football once looked like. But admiration isn’t enough in this era of calculated squad evolution — not when Florian Wirtz is arriving in a club-record deal and the forward line is crying out for redefinition under Arne Slot. If the new Liverpool is about value, timing, and evolution, then Díaz’s departure might be less a goodbye and more a necessity. Sentiment seemed to depart the AXA Training Ground when the illustrious former German manager left the building and it seems many of his former players will now be joining him in heading for the exit.

The Wages Don’t Work

Díaz has two years left on the contract he signed in early 2022, one that sees him earn roughly £55,000 per week — a number that now reads like a rounding error when compared to the salaries of the club’s top earners. Mohamed Salah, who extended on a mind-boggling £400,000 per week, and Wirtz, reportedly set to earn close to £350,000 per week, have both reset Liverpool’s internal scale to match their world-class aspirations. For Díaz to renew, he’d logically demand at least quadruple his wages — a request the club is unlikely to entertain, especially for a 28-year-old with inconsistent output and a contract winding down.

This isn’t a judgment on Díaz’s quality, but rather a business decision shaped by the painful lessons of the Klopp era. Letting players run contracts down has hurt Liverpool financially and structurally — there’s no appetite to repeat that mistake which saw approximately £200 million left on the Anfield table. If Barcelona are offering £60 million, that’s a £20 million profit on a player signed from Porto and one that still shows moments of elite class. It’s also the kind of fee that won’t exist in twelve months, not unless he produces a campaign worthy of Ballon d’Or whispers — something that, for all his dynamism, hasn’t looked especially likely. The signs point to a team looking to bring in a world-class player, in the knowledge that another is primed to depart.

The Wirtz Solution Is Already Here

Liverpool isn’t selling from weakness anymore. Under Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes, the club is beginning to look like a project with sharp tools and no tolerance for asset drift and stagnation. The clearest sign of that is the amazing pursuit of Florian Wirtz. The 22-year-old is one of Europe’s most polished attacking technicians — capable of playing off the left, operating as a number ten, or connecting centrally as a free-roaming playmaker. His signing isn’t just a splash — it’s a fantastical reordering of the attacking hierarchy, one which points to a shift in playing style and final-third production.

Wirtz gives Slot the kind of positional fluidity he craves: a player who can occupy space intelligently, play between the lines, and break compact blocks with elegance. In contrast, Díaz is more straightforward — a classic touchline winger who thrives on chaos and isolation. He sometimes appears to work on pure instinct, whilst playing for a head coach who prefers surgical precision. There’s room for both types in football, but not necessarily in one system, and certainly not at similar wage demands. If Wirtz is the future, it’s hard to see where Díaz fits outside of a rotational role he won’t accept on £200k+ per week.

Exit, Reinvest, Rebuild

It’s no coincidence that Díaz’s name has floated around every “incoming funds” conversation this summer. With Darwin Núñez also expected to depart and a new central striker inbound, the attacking blueprint is being rewritten. Slot wants functional aggression — intensity paired with that precision. That requires personnel who are tailored to his system, not carryovers from Klopp’s declining years. Alexander Isak refused to be a name that is dismissed and he would thrive ahead of a player built to service rather than a maverick designed to disrupt.

Díaz to Barcelona isn’t just a feel-good move for the player — it’s a way for Liverpool to cash in at peak value and reinvest before inevitable regression sets in. It also avoids the slow, painful contract sagas that previously haunted the club and cost a world-class institution valuable incoming funds. If Barcelona truly have those funds — and they somehow always find them — then Liverpool must strike decisively and make a decision that serves the present and the future.

The emotional pull of Díaz’s journey shouldn’t obscure the reality of the new project. Wirtz is just about here and the frontline is clearly changing to suit an altered style that suits the demands of Slot. Therefore, it has been deemed that sentimentality doesn’t win Premier Leagues. If Arne is to have the tools to shape his Anfield era, then this feels like the right sale, at the right time, for the right reasons.