Liverpool FC

Paul Gorst speaks to Spanish football manager Julio Velazquez who has worked in Portugal for the last three years.

From my point of view, there is no doubt that he has not yet reached the peak of his capabilities and he can improve in all aspects.” If there’s one team who will know all about Diaz’s potential threat, however, it is Porto’s historic rivals Benfica and Liverpool’s Champions League quarter-final opponents will be more versed in dealing with the talents of the Reds’ new man than any other team he has come up against during his fledgling days at Anfield. “I think Benfica will have analysed Liverpool's team very well, and for them the most important thing will be to try to counter the collective and try to prevent the potential of the English team from being translated on the pitch” Velazquez says in a chat with the ECHO. “Of course, there are individual players in Liverpool's team that Benfica will have to take into account, and Luis Diaz is one of them, but I would say that the Portuguese team will have to face the opponent through a collective perspective. He's still very young, he has a lot of ability, and some people who know him well tell me that he also has those qualities at a human level, which is also very important for him to evolve and have the hunger to improve more and more. He's someone who can solve a game, he very strong in one-on-one situations with a lot of ability to hurt the opponent and fantastic in the last third of the pitch. He makes the difference.” One of the key aspects behind the decision to sign Diaz was a type of playing style that is not too dissimilar to how Klopp likes to operate up front. Diaz has been central to the renewed belief, hitting the ground running at quite the pace that has many eagerly anticipating what might be possible of the 25-year-old once he has a full pre-season to fall back on Liverpool. His man-of-the-match performance in the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea showed that Diaz has a flair for the big games and with Klopp’s men going for the lot between now and the end of May, the sizeable fixtures will only continue to come. READ MORE: Alex Ferguson blanked Liverpool legend for '20 years' after overhearing private joke 'A NIGHTMARE': 13 players who left Liverpool after falling out with Rafa Benitez READ MORE: Liverpool defender got his wish after £5m exit and Jurgen Klopp social media incident “Luis Diaz is a world-class player, there is no doubt about it,” says Julio Velazquez, a manager with decades of experience that includes stints with Villarreal, Udinese and Real Betis. Velazquez has spent the last few years of his career in Portuguese football with Vitoria Setubal and Maritimo and watched on from close quarters as Diaz become the third big export out of the country in recent years behind Joao Felix (£113m to Atletico Madrid) and Bruno Fernandes (£70m to Manchester United). “Luis is at an extraordinary level, he can play in any top team in European football, and he was a player that was in the top five of the Portuguese league.