'That was a mistake!' - Liverpool told they should never have sold key star in summer

Former winger Wright-Phillips was clear in his assessment of Liverpool's transfer business, saying he felt the decision to part company with Diaz without replacing him with another winger was a clear mistake from the moment it happened. He said many Liverpool fans are now waking up to the quality Diaz possesses, as he thrives in Munich. 

The ex-Porto man has been a revelation for Bayern so far this term, scoring 11 goals and contributing five assists in 18 competitive appearances. The highlight of his brilliant start to life in Germany came in Bayern's 2-2 draw away to Union Berlin last month, when he rifled home a finish from an impossibly tight angle.  

Diaz was absent in the German club's only loss of the 2025/26 campaign in midweek, after he followed a first half brace with a red card in the Bavarian side's 2-1 win over PSG. Vincent Kompany's side clearly missed his direct running and physical output in their 3-1 defeat to Arsenal. 

In an interview with BestBettingSites, Wright-Phillips was asked whether he thought it was a mistake to sell Diaz to Bayern. He replied: "Yes. I thought that when I heard it before it even happened. I couldn’t quite understand it. That was a mistake, but an even bigger mistake was not replacing him.

"You’re losing a winger, so replace him with another winger. For whatever reason, they chose to look elsewhere.

"I think a few Liverpool fans recognised just how good he was for them, but a lot of people didn’t really understand how important and effective he was until he started doing it for Bayern instead."

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Wright-Phillips continued his criticism over Liverpool's transfer spending. He was asked if the Reds failure to secure Marc Guehi's transfer from Crystal Palace was their biggest mistake, however, the 44-year-old instead referenced the decision to acquire both Isak and Ekitike without Arne Slot adjusting his tactics to accommodate both players, or bring out the best in other high-profile purchases like Florian Wirtz. Isak joined Liverpool for a British record fee of £125m from Newcastle; Ekitike made the switch to Merseyside from Eintracht Frankfurt in a deal that could reach £79m; Wirtz cost £116m to acquire from Bayer Leverkusen. All three men have struggled for form and fitness  over the start of the 2025/26 season. 

"No, I don't think Liverpool missing out on Guehi was the biggest mistake of the summer. I think the biggest mistake is that Slot hasn’t adapted his approach so that Ekitike and Isak can play together," said Wright-Phillips. 

"They’re both pretty similar, so you need to work on it to make sure they can team up. But you can’t have one who drops short, because that’s where Wirtz will be. But if you have Wirtz there, you’ve fundamentally changed your title-winning midfield tactics."

Wright-Phillips went on to suggest that Liverpool had tinkered too much with their winning formula from last term. He added: "There's been too much change in Liverpool from the team that almost walked the league last season. I don't think there needed to be £400 million worth of changes. I don't think they needed both Isak and Ekitike. They could have just taken one and then they would have been well placed to go and obviously replace Diaz. But they were so focused on those two players that they didn't really do much else after that."

Diaz's form will be add insult to injury for Liverpool fans, that have watched their expensive attack fail to gel. 

It has not been much better in defence. Jamie Carrageher unleashed an x-rated rant against Arne Slot for continuing to pick the struggling Ibrahima Konate after Liverpool's disastrous 4-1 home defeat to PSV Eindhoven earlier this week. The Sky and CBS Sports pundit suggested the Dutchman has one week to right the ship, before shis position will come under serious threat. Slot has to find the right tactical balance ahead of the Reds trip to West Ham on Sunday, and the visit of Sunderland on December 3.