Luis Diaz vs Sadio Mane: Why Liverpool couldn't let Tottenham poach perfect replacement
Earlier this month, Liverpool were credited with an interest in Porto winger Luis Diaz, but appeared willing to wait until the summer to make their move. Then came Tottenham, who were keen to steal a march on the Reds before the end of the window, submitting a bid earlier this week.
That bid was rejected by Porto having fallen way short of Porto's valuation, and has seemingly forced Liverpool into action. Diaz had, after all, been identified as an ideal long term replacement to Sadio Mane, and it's not hard to see why.
It's the latest move from the Merseysiders to move on from their previous front three having eased Diogo Jota into Roberto Firmino's starting spot. The same will surely now happen to Mane, whose form has been dropping for the best part of two years. He'll be 30 come the end of the season, with a year remaining on his current contract.
If the move for Jota surprised some, with many viewing the Portugal forward as a direct competitor to Mane's starting berth rather than that of Firmino at the time, there's no question as to why Diaz has been targetted.
Stylistically, he's very similar to the Senegal international, and while his numbers are clearly caveated by playing in an inferior league, they still highlight the parallels between the two.
Since the start of last season across their league and Champions League appearances the two players have an identical number of goals (24) and assists (9), and are even level-pegging in terms of their overall rating from WhoScored.com (7.18). However, with 19 of Diaz's 39 appearances across the two competitions last season coming from the bench, he has had a direct hand in a goal considerably more frequently (every 124.7 minutes) than Mane (168.9). Meanwhile his rating when excluding substitute appearances (7.44) is also superior to that of the Liverpool man (7.32).
Indeed, Diaz's statistics per 90 are clear of Mane with the exception of shots (2.6 to 2.9), though that results in a significantly improved conversion rate from the Colombian (20 per cent to 13.3).
In terms of chance creation there's very little between the two, with Daiz averaging 1.6 key passes per 90 to Mane's 1.5, but his dribbling is a level up on the Senegal star. Mane's 2.1 dribbles completed per 90 come at a modest 55 per cent success rate, while Diaz averages 3 per 90 at an improved 63.5 per cent success rate by comparison.
His efficiency in and out of possession in the final third is pertinent too, completing 75 per cent of his passes in that area of the pitch to Mane's 69.6 and winning possession in the attacking third more often per 90 as well (1 to 0.8).
Simply put, Diaz is performing at a level that is coming close to matching Mane at his best and while again, the need to factor in the quality of opposition is clear, the 25-year-old is one the rise at a pretty alarming rate while the Liverpool man is clearly regressing. The right time to move is now given the competition for his signature, and it's Mane that instead could be transferred in the summer.
