Arne Slot defends Liverpool’s £65m Luis Diaz sale and the club’s “sustainability” model as the winger shines at Bayern.
If you wanted a reminder of what Liverpool are missing right now, you only had to look toward the Allianz Arena on Sunday. As Luis Diaz wheeled away in celebration after completing a clinical hat-trick against Hoffenheim, the contrast with the current situation at Anfield could not have been more piercing.
The ghost of Luis Diaz continues to haunt the corridors of the AXA Training Centre, but if you expect Arne Slot to indulge in a bout of nostalgic “what-ifs,” you haven’t been paying attention.
Arne Slot’s approach is notably pragmatic, especially in this challenging transition for Liverpool where the left wing output just isn’t producing the number it did during the 2024/25 title winning campaign now Cody Gakpo’s form has stuttered and Rio Ngumoha remains a project for the future.
While the Colombian winger illuminates the Bundesliga with a staggering 28 goals and 14 assists for Bayern Munich, Liverpool find themselves in a scrap for their Champions League lives.
The contrast is stark. Diaz thrashed in a hat-trick against Hoffenheim at the weekend, while the Reds have struggled for a clinical edge that once defined them.
Yet, ahead of tonight’s vital trip to the Stadium of Light, Slot remains remarkably steadfast about the decision to sanction that £65.5 million summer exit.
Liverpool sold Diaz because the math didn’t add up. After the club failed to meet his desired salary a figure Bild reports has jumped from £140,000 to £230,000 a week in Munich FSG stayed true to the sustainability model that has both defined and divided the fan base.
Sustainability Over Sentiment
Slot, speaking to the media ahead of his side away trip to Sunderland tackled the Diaz head-on. He isn’t hiding from the fact that a player of that calibre leaves a void, but he insists the logic remains. Furthermore, Arne Slot knows the sale was controversial among fans.
“You always miss good football players,” Slot admitted. “He was so important for us last season, but he wasn’t the only one. There were more players that were influential in our results, but I think we have replaced them with very good players as well.”
The Dutchman views the sale as a pragmatic necessity rather than a tactical preference. By the time Diaz reaches the end of his Bayern contract in 2029, he will be 32. For a club that prioritises long-term value, cashing in on a 28-year-old for nearly £66m represented the ultimate “no-brainer” in the boardroom. For Arne Slot, sustainability is vital for Liverpool’s future.
“Diaz is another example of how this club is run,” Slot added. “If this club gets for a 28-year-old an offer like that then this club, because it is built on sustainability, chooses to sell a player and we are an exception in the Premier League, especially at the top of the Premier League, for that.” Arne Slot’s leadership has made difficult decisions a necessity for the Reds.
The Isak impact and the left-wing void
The real frustration for supporters isn’t just that Diaz left it’s that the man brought in to evolve the attack has spent more time in the treatment room than on the pitch.
Alexander Isak, the British-record £125m signing, hasn’t featured since December after suffering a broken leg against Tottenham.
Slot rightly points out that the conversation surrounding Diaz would sound very different if the Swede were leading the line.
“It is maybe more fair to say that if Alex had been fit, would we have spoken about it then as well?”
Without Isak’s presence, the burden has fallen on Cody Gakpo, whose form has fallen off a cliff compared to last season.
Furthermore, the lack of a natural wide outlet has made Liverpool predictable. While Diaz offered a direct threat, Gakpo and Mohamed Salah prefer to drift inside, often running straight into the defensive traffic jams Slot’s side has struggled to navigate.
The Salah slump and Ekitike’s rise
Perhaps the most alarming statistic isn’t Diaz’s goal tally in Germany, but Salah’s lack of them on Merseyside.
The four-time Golden Boot winner has netted just four times in the league this season. Since signing his lucrative extension in April, the Egyptian King has looked a shadow of the man who once scored 27 goals in seven months.
Consequently, Liverpool have scored 20 fewer Premier League goals than at this stage last year. They sit sixth, a massive 17 points behind leaders Arsenal.
If it weren’t for the exceptional form of Hugo Ekitike, who has bagged 15 goals across all competitions and formed a tantalising partnership with Florian Wirtz, the situation would likely be even bleaker.
Slot, however, refuses to use Diaz as an excuse for the current 17-point margin. He knows that forwards cannot be rotated as he’d like due to the injury crisis, but he maintains that the club’s model is what allowed them to achieve success in the first place. Notably, Arne Slot’s belief in sustainability has shaped Liverpool’s modern strategy.
“But that is why it is also so nice that we are able to achieve the things we have achieved in the last few years with that model. But he is doing very well at Bayern and that is not a surprise to me.”
No time for looking back
As the Reds prepare to face a Sunderland side that remains unbeaten at home, the focus must shift from who left to who is left. Liverpool need to find a way to break down opposition structures without the “chaos factor” Diaz provided.
The money from the Diaz sale helped fund a record-breaking summer splurge, but that investment needs to start yielding Champions League sized returns and it needs to start tonight and Isak will eventually return.
But for now, Slot must prove that his “sustainability model” can still produce a winning formula on a cold Wednesday night on Wearside.
