London – AFP
German coach of Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp, expressed his admiration for what he has seen so far from Colombian newcomer Luis Diaz, praising what he considered one of the best beginnings he experienced in his coaching career.
During the winter transfer period last month, Liverpool succeeded in signing the 25-year-old from Porto for 37.5 million pounds, outperforming the race for the player’s services over his London rival, Tottenham.
The Colombian striker left his impact quickly with the “red” during his first two participations, as he entered as a substitute in the cup match once morest Cardiff (3-1), and then played key in the victory over Leicester City (2-0) Thursday in the Premier League.
And by virtue of his experience, Klopp realizes that any player needs time to adapt to a new team, so what is the case if this team plays in a different tournament than the Portuguese League and with a competitive intensity that is unmatched in other leagues.
But the German coach was impressed by what he saw so far, saying: “It was only his first match (as a start once morest Leicester), but it was one of the best matches I’ve seen from a new player, honestly, because he looked exactly like him.”
“It was only his first match and it remains to be seen how he will cope with the intense work and all these Premier League things. We are not in a hurry.”
Klopp indicated that “last night was a good opportunity for us to start because Sadio (Senegalese Mane) is not here and Mo (Egyptian Mohamed Salah) has just returned from a very competitive African championship. And yes, he did (it was on the level of responsibility).”
With Sane returning from the African Nations Cup, which he won with his country in the final by defeating his colleague Salah and the Egyptian national team, Diaz faces an uphill task to retain his position in the squad.
The German coach revealed that Salah is available to start Sunday’s league match once morest Burnley, following he entered as a substitute in Thursday’s meeting once morest Leicester in his first participation since losing the African Nations Cup final.
“Sadio will be available,” Klopp said. In the morning (Friday) he will participate in the exercises, the full exercises. We will then make a decision regarding how he feels.”
He added, “Psychologically, he will be in very high spirits, but physically we will have to see how he has been in the past few days.”
Liverpool are second in the Premier League, nine points behind champions and leaders Manchester City, but with a game in hand for Klopp’s team, which is also fighting on the fronts of the Champions League, Cup and League Cup.
After Sunday’s visit to Burnley, Liverpool will travel to Milan to face Inter on Wednesday in the first leg of the Champions League final, to host it once more on the eighth of March, following playing the League Cup final once morest Chelsea on the 27th of this month, then the fifth round of the cup competition. On the second of next month once morest Norwich.
