With just a fortnight of the Premier League season remaining, Liverpool have found themselves in the enviable position of having wrapped up the title and able to enjoy a pressure-free run-in.
Sunday’s Anfield clash against Arsenal had been eyed as a potential title showdown earlier in the season, but Liverpool sat 15 points clear of the Gunners at kick-off, having earned an insurmountable lead at the top a fortnight earlier.
Arne Slot’s men looked to be enjoying this freedom when they scored twice in two first-half minutes, as Cody Gakpo opened the scoring on 20 minutes, before Luis Diaz quickly doubled their lead. Second-half goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Mikel Merino meant the spoils were eventually shared at Anfield.
Diaz on his desire to stay at Liverpool
The Reds are now able to look towards next season and what they need to do this summer ahead of next year’s title defence, after what had been a relatively quiet transfer window last year.
Diaz’s goal against the Gunners was his 17th of the season, meaning this has been his best goalscoring campaign in a Liverpool shirt since his £49 million move from Porto in January 2022.
The Colombian has featured in 48 of Liverpool’s 54 games across all competitions this season, splitting his time on the left-hand side and in a central position and has added eight assists. FourFourTwo ranked him at no.31 in the 50 best Premier League players of the season earlier this season.
This came after he was linked with a move away last summer when the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona were linked to the 28-year-old, who has another two years left on his current Anfield deal.
And it would appear that Diaz is about to enter talks over his future with the club, with Diaz revealing to South American outlet Telemundo that he wants to remain on Merseyside.
“Yes, happy,” Diaz said when asked if he wants to stay with the club. “From the first day I arrived, I’ve always been happy, calm, enjoying the football played at this great team.
“We’ll be talking about it, we’ll talk about it (about the renewal).
“For me, I would stay however many years it takes, it also depends on the club, everything. These are details that are sorted out separately. Very calm, I’m happy and enjoying the Premier League”.
In FourFourTwo’s view, it makes sense for Liverpool to secure the future of Diaz - who is valued at €85m by Transfermarket - following a campaign in which he looks to have truely become settled at Anfield.
While the question marks earlier this season over the future of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold did not derail their season, it would be prudent to make sure no other key players’ futures again go to the wire like that.
