Mark Lawrenson has compared Liverpool new boy Luis Diaz to the club’s former midfielder Philippe Coutinho.
The Colombian winger moved to Anfield in the winter transfer window for a fee that could rise to £49m.
Premier League rivals Tottenham were also keen on signing the 25-year-old but he opted for Liverpool, signing a five-year contract.
Liverpool are ‘closing in on’ a 250/1 Quadruple now
Diaz made his debut for the Reds during Sunday’s 3-1 win over Cardiff City in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
The former Porto man helped set up Takumi Minamino for his goal, ten minutes after coming off the bench.
And Liverpool legend Lawrenson has likened Diaz to the Reds’ former star Coutinho, who left the club for a reported £121m in January 2018.
“I saw him in the second leg here at Anfield and he posed lots of problems,” Lawrenson told LFC TV (via the Liverpool Echo).
ASISTENCIA de Luis Díaz con el #Liverpool pic.twitter.com/K66dQNn1PQ
— Pipe Sierra (@PSierraR) February 6, 2022
“Right-footed comes in from the left, a bit like Coutinho used to do to score his goals all that way but also that would mean for me that he could play on the right.
“Obviously, in terms of pressure on the normal front three for places, he’s just a really good signing and I like the way the club went about the business.
“It was hardly mentioned and all of a sudden it was done which is always very good.
“A pure footballer but also can go past people.”
Meanwhile, Bukayo Saka has the “attributes and qualities” to replace Mohamed Salah at Liverpool, according to Kevin Phillips.
Salah is yet to sign a new deal with Liverpool and now has just 18 months left to run on his current deal and Phillips believes Saka has what it takes to “emulate” the Egyptian.
Speaking to Football Insider, he said: “I think Saka will get better and better. He’s still a young kid, he’s done a lot already in his short career.
“Whether he can go to Liverpool, if that was to happen, could he emulate what Salah’s done? It’d be very, very difficult for any player to do that.
“But he’s certainly got the attributes and qualities that he possibly could join Liverpool and replace Salah. Let’s not forget, Salah didn’t tear it up early on at Chelsea.”
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