Steven Gerrard admits he would welcome Luis Diaz back at Liverpool and believes the club don’t have any likelihood of signing Michael Olise from Bayern Munich this summer.
Diaz played a key role in Liverpool’s Premier League title success last season before the club allowed him to maneuver to Bayern in a £65.5 million deal last summer.
Liverpool at the moment are out there to exchange Mohamed Salah, who’s leaving Anfield at the tip of the season, and Olise has been linked with a return to the Premier League.
Nonetheless, Gerrard feels Olise has no reason to go away Bayern and backs the 24-year-old to impress for France on the World Cup this summer.
‘If you find yourself a full-back playing up against a winger, they normally have a weak side and also you show them a method or one other, depending what foot they’re,’ Gerrard told TNT Sports.
‘The issue with him is he can go each ways, his right foot is just as strong as his left. You actually need to indicate him on his right foot because that’s probably his weaker side, but you see a number of the assists he’s getting, a number of the finishes along with his right foot.
‘For those who leave him in one-versus-one situations, you’re in major trouble.’
Asked if he would take Olise at Liverpool, Gerrard replied: ‘All day long.
‘But the issue is, why would he leave Bayern? A giant club, difficult for the massive honours, and so they are probably the strongest Bayern Munich team we have now seen for some time.
‘He’s about to take the World Cup by storm come the summer. He looks like a very completely happy kid, settled, to me, I don’t think he’s going anywhere.
‘But, yes, would I really like him at Liverpool. And you already know what, I wouldn’t mind Diaz back as well. I’m missing him, I’m missing him.’
Meanwhile, Gerrard’s former Liverpool teammate, Jamie Carragher, believes the club were right to money in on Diaz.
Asked if Liverpool were incorrect to sell the Colombia international last 12 months, Carragher said on CBS Sports: ‘No. They miss him as a player, 100 per cent, there’s little question, and that was at all times going to be the case, he was a very good player for Liverpool.
‘But sometimes you get presented deals as a club and on the time that was a great deal for Liverpool.
‘Liverpool I feel bought Luis Diaz for £40 million, that they had him for 4 seasons possibly, he was due for a brand new contract, he’d been on the identical contract since he got here, so he wasn’t on huge wages and the following one would have put him on a giant contract and Liverpool would have had him until his early 30s, which might be not what they wanted ideally.
‘Bayern Munich had an issue because they tried to get Florian Wirtz, obviously he got here to Liverpool, then [Jamal] Musiala got injured throughout the Club World Cup, in order that they were desperate for a player, I feel they ended up paying £70m for Luis Diaz at 28, so the entire package was a great deal.
‘But listen, he’s still a very good player, you saw that last season for Liverpool and we’re now seeing it for Bayern. But I wouldn’t criticise the club for it.’
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