Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler fears the club are ‘missing’ Luis Diaz after selling the winger to Bayern Munich in the summer transfer window.
Diaz left Anfield after three-and-a-half years to sign for the German giants in a deal worth £65million. It came during a major summer of upheaval on Merseyside with Darwin Nunez, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Harvey Elliot and Jarell Quansah also among those to leave the club.
Liverpool spent over £450million on incoming players but their bid to defend their Premier League title has already hit trouble, losing five of 11 games and now trailing leaders Arsenal by eight points.
Mohamed Salah’s waning influence coupled with slow starts for Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz have underlined issues in attack with former striker Fowler tracing many of the problems back to Diaz’s departure.
While Liverpool were eager to keep the Colombia international who pushed for the move away, Fowler admits he is surprised ‘not more has been made of how much they are missing’ the winger this season.
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‘I don’t know the reason why he went, but it looks as though he wanted to go because it was a very quick sale, wasn’t it? That tells you he probably wanted to, but for me he was probably one of Liverpool’s standout players last year,’ Fowler told Metro, on behalf of Adventure Gamers.
‘So I’m actually genuinely surprised that not more has been made of how much Liverpool are missing him.
‘Because when you look at Liverpool and certainly the tough start they’ve had, they maybe struggled to break teams down when teams have sat and kept that low block.
‘Luis Diaz is one of those players who can unlock defences. So I think they have genuinely missed him.’
Another player moved on by Liverpool last summer was academy graduate Tyler Morton. The 23-year-old failed to make a single league appearance under Slot last season, joining Lyon in the summer where after a rocky start, he has grown into a key player.
Morton, who has already linked with a return to England with Crystal Palace and West Ham credited with interest, recently admitted he felt he ‘didn’t feel the trust’ under Slot.
While Morton’s prospects did look bleak under Slot, Fowler sees a bright future for the former academy star and hopes he one day proves selling him was a mistake.
‘There’s no doubt that he’s good enough because he has played for in midfield at Liverpool before,’ Fowler said.
‘But you’ve got to be honest and say, the manager didn’t really play him much last year. So certainly not under this manager could you see him coming back. This is my opinion.
‘What I see with Tyler Morton, I do think he’s a good player, but the manager never played him much last year. So that tells you something about, not his performances, but his type of game. It might not fit it into what the manager wanted.
‘I genuinely hope he does [prove them wrong to have sold him] because he is a local lad who’s obviously come through the ranks. I’m like that with every player who comes through up from the academy. I always want to see him do well, I genuinely do.’