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Luis Diaz scored for Bayern Munich inside 15 seconds as the German giant won 3-0 away at Eintracht Frankfurt this weekend — with Daniel Sturridge claiming that Liverpool is missing the Colombian.
Arne Slot's men decided to let Diaz move to Germany in the summer for a fee of around $88 million (£66 million). The former FC Porto winger initially wanted to leave a year earlier and at 28, it was a good price to get for him, but he has made a flying start to life in the Bundesliga.
"Luis Diaz has now truly settled into his hometown of Munich and is in outstanding form," BILD's report from the game read. "The winger once again played a key role in Bayern's 3-0 victory against Frankfurt on Saturday.
"After just 15 seconds, Diaz gave coach Vincent Kompany's team a 1-0 lead, and the Colombian also scored the final goal to make it 3-0. His remarkable start to life at Bayern: 10 games, six goals, four assists."
"FC Bayern demonstrated the ability to slow down and control a game that was lacking last year, and Luis Diaz stood out in attack this time," Suddeutsche Zeitungagreed.
And Joshua Kimmich said: "He integrated quickly and fitted in. When you come to a new country and don't speak the language, it's not that easy. We've seen many players before him who haven't managed that. He was part of the group from the very first moment."
"Diaz is a massive miss for me," Sturridge said after Liverpool lost 2-1 to Chelsea. "When you look at Liverpool last year and how they used to press, I think arguably he was the one who would set the press in the front three.
"Dominik Szoboszlai would do it in the midfield with that power and dynamism that he has.
"For me, Luis Diaz, how tenacious he is on the ball and how hungry he is to get it back for his team. He brought something to Liverpool that they are now missing. I think Ekitike and Isak and Wirtz work hard, I'm not saying they don't. We can't question their work rate or their quality.
"But what I will say is that they're attack-minded players. I think with Diaz would sacrifice himself defensively.
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"That's what they've got to figure out now, who in that attack is going to give themselves up a little bit. In a front three there always has to be one guy who goes, 'I'm not stats hungry'.
"You see Gakpo this year scoring more goals, Salah scoring less, the new strikers want to hit the ground running. So I think, Jamie questioned the balance in the midfield, but I also think it's in the front three.
"It's important to understand which one of three is going to be the workhorse, who's going to be the one who does what he wants and who's going to be a hybrid of both. Right now, I'm not sure the manager knows what he's going to do."
Liverpool.com says: Diaz playing well is nice to see, but the Reds didn't make a mistake in moving him on. He wanted to leave and they got a really good fee for someone of his age and with only two years left on his contract.
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