John Barnes has explained why Luis Diaz was not a “big January signing” for Liverpool amid his brilliant start to life in England.
The attacker made the move to Liverpool during the winter transfer window.
Tottenham were linked with the 25-year-old but he ultimately joined the Reds for £37.5m plus add-ons.
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Diaz has hit the ground running for Liverpool. He has grabbed three goals and two assists from his nine Premier League outings.
He has followed the likes of Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah who also took no time to adapt to life at Liverpool.
Barnes has now spoken about the signing. He does not think Diaz should be classed as a “big January signing” considering that he “didn’t cost that much money”:
“That [Diaz] is not a big January signing, if it was Real Madrid, Barcelona and everybody else would be after him and he didn’t cost that much money,” Barnes said (quotes via The Mirror).
“This is a signing that Jurgen Klopp makes because he knows he can integrate him into a team and be successful as he has now.
“Very much like how it was when [Mohamed] Salah came, [Sadio] Mane came, there wasn’t a big clamour for them and as much as they have gone on to be the players that they are – that’s to do with Klopp being able to identify the template of player he wants.
“Diaz won’t do this at Manchester City, he won’t do this at Real Madrid very much like Salah suits the way [Liverpool] play, so if Mo Salah feels like he can leave Liverpool and have the same impact at Real Madrid – I don’t think he will.”
Meanwhile, Klopp has insisted that there will be no “need to get nervous” during Liverpool’s Champions League clash with Villarreal:
“There are moments when we will suffer and I know that. We don’t need to get nervous but we can make them suffer too. We will work with our result and fight at Villarreal because it means everything.”
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