“Hindsight’s dead easy” – Steve Nicol blasts revisionism over 2025 Liverpool transfer decision
Steve Nicol has defended Liverpool over their decision to sell Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich last summer, despite the winger appearing to be a big miss for the Reds this season.
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Although Arne Slot wanted to keep the winger, the 29-year-old ended up joining the Bundesliga champions for £65m in late July (BBC Sport), and he’s gone on to net 20 goals in his first 35 games at the Allianz Arena.
In his absence at Anfield, Cody Gakpo has struggled to replicate his numbers from last term, hitting just eight goals in 38 matches in the current campaign, but Nicol insists that LFC made the right call in cashing in on the Colombian.
Nicol defends Liverpool over sale of Diaz
The ex-Liverpool defender told ESPN FC: “I think you’re spending the money on [Alexander] Isak. You’re spending the money on [Florian] Wirtz. You have Gakpo, and you’re getting offered what? Nearly £70m for a guy who’s 29 years old.
“I mean, hindsight’s dead easy, isn’t it? At the time it seemed like a very sensible and great business deal to get £70m for a 29-year-old when you already have Gakpo, and then you bring in Wirtz and Isak.
“There weren’t too many people complaining, let me put it that way. All the so-called experts, nobody said, ‘Liverpool are crazy, Liverpool are mad. Why are they doing this?’ Nobody said that at all.”
Did it make sense at the time for Liverpool to sell Diaz?
While there’s no disputing that we’ve missed the output and effervescence of Diaz this season, Nicol makes a fair point about being wise with the benefit of hindsight.
The Colombian had reportedly been eager to swap Liverpool for Bayern (ESPN FC), and his comments last month that he’s ‘very happy and grateful‘ to have made the move show that he has no regrets over how things played out.
An offer of £65m for a player nearing his 30s and seeking a new challenge would’ve been difficult for FSG to turn down, and it would’ve been reasonable at the time to expect Gakpo – who scored 18 times last season – to have maintained such a strong output into the current campaign.
Kopites can’t be blamed for wishing that Diaz was still at Anfield, especially in games where the Reds have struggled to break down low-block defences, but the truth is that we need to move on from the past while still being grateful for what the Colombian contributed to the club.
Put simply, the current Liverpool squad need to finish the season strongly and show that they can still achieve future success without some of those who played a vital part in last year’s Premier League title triumph.
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