Luis Diaz made his eagerly-anticipated debut for Liverpool in their 3-1 FA Cup win over Cardiff City at Anfield – and fans are already impressed.
The Colombian international joined Liverpool from FC Porto for an initial fee of £37 million in January. That fee could rise to £49 million with add-ons.
The 25-year-old impressed hugely in Portugal. This season, he struck 14 goals and provided four assists in just 18 Primeira Liga appearances. He scored four goals in five games at the Copa America the previous summer. Only Lionel Messi scored as many.
Liverpool fans, therefore, have been excited to see their new man in action. Upon his arrival, manager Jurgen Klopp hinted that Diaz could make his debut against Cardiff.
He told the club’s official website: “Far too soon [for a debut], I don’t know. If he would have been here [on Thursday] and could have trained a little bit, I would have considered it definitely. Now, I don’t know.
“I wouldn’t say no because I would be excited as well. A few minutes in a sold-out Anfield is nice. But let’s see.”
Luis Diaz makes Liverpool bow
Thankfully for the Anfield crowd, they did get to catch a glimpse of their new big-money signing.
On 58 minutes, he replaced Curtis Jones to rapturous applause from the Liverpool faithful. Within 10 minutes, he had his first assist for the club – although it has been debated whether he will be able to claim it.
The winger robbed the ball from Cardiff defender Perry Ng near the goal line, before showing off some neat footwork to take it further towards the goal. From there, he squared the ball to Takumi Minamino to fire home.
There was a significant scare for Reds fans when Diaz went down with what looked like a bad knee injury. However, thankfully he was able to complete the match. The Anfield faithful will now look forward to seeing what else the 25-year-old can bring to the side.
Liverpool fans react to Diaz debut
Taking to the r/LiverpoolFC subreddit immediately after Minamino’s goal, Liverpool fans professed their love for their new signing.
One fan said: “Insane footwork from Diaz!”
Another added: “Diaz has magic in his boots.”
Some fans perhaps went slightly overboard on his first impressions, but you can understand, given the hype surrounding his debut.
An excited Liverpool supporter wrote: “Diaz probably the best player in the world, lads.”
Other fans compared Diaz to a modern-day Liverpool great, whilst some made light of the fact that his pass for the goal ended up nutmegging his teammate, Diogo Jota.
One claimed: “Diaz reminded me of [Luis] Suarez there, honestly.”
Another wrote: “We were promised nutmegs, this guy nutmegs our own striker!”
There was also plenty of reaction on Twitter to Diaz’s successful start to life at Anfield.
Featured Image Credit: Getty
