(Reuters) – Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp has backed Luis Diaz to become a consistent threat in front of goal for the Premier League club, saying the team’s set-up will help the Colombian emulate Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane’s goalscoring exploits.
Diaz has quickly settled in since joining Liverpool from Porto in January, but has not yet been able to match his goalscoring output in Portugal.
The 25-year-old came close to netting in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw against Fulham, flashing a shot across the face of the goal, but was denied by the post.
When asked if Diaz is a player who can score 10-15 goals in a season, Klopp told reporters; “Definitely, that is his quality. We need to see it, but of course that is his potential.”
“You see the situations he (Diaz) had (at Fulham), big chances, and he was unlucky,” added Klopp, speaking ahead of Monday’s home fixture against Crystal Palace.
“He had these blocked moments already a couple of times but he’s in a really good shape actually, he looks really good — and that’s more important for me, that he’s in these situations.”
Egypt’s Salah and Senegal’s Mane, who joined Bayern Munich in June, have thrived in front of goal for Liverpool in recent seasons, and Klopp said the club’s system was tailor-made to develop attacking talent.
“It’s the way we play, it’s the way we bring the boys in the situations,” Klopp said.
“But it’s the way we play, with how we position the players, how we protect the players, where we win the balls back and all these kinds of things… That’s why they will be in a lot of goalscoring situations.”
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
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