Slot must axe Liverpool ace who earns more than Diaz & Konate
One bad afternoon aside, Liverpool have been brilliant under Arne Slot this season. The Dutchman inherited a top-class squad from Jurgen Klopp, who had run out of energy after crafting an illustrious dynasty, but the Reds certainly weren’t infallible.
Liverpool were pulled from the title race last season by a wretched run of Premier League form throughout April, with eventual champions in the Europa League, Atalanta, and FA Cup, Manchester United, defeating the Anfield side en route to gold.
Klopp did end his tenure with a vicarious campaign in the Carabao Cup, but there is plenty for this Liverpool side still to give under new leadership, with some players excitingly going from strength to strength.
Let’s take a look at two of the best.
Luis Diaz & Ibrahima Konate for Liverpool in 2023/24
Luis Diaz has been a revelation this season. Across five Premier League matches, the Colombian winger has scored five fine goals and claimed one assist.
Matches (starts)
37 (32)
5 (5)
Goals
8
5
Assists
5
1
Touches*
43.8
42.4
Shots (on target)
2.5 (0.9)
2.6 (1.6)
Pass completion
85%
90%
Key passes*
1.8
1.6
Ball recoveries*
3.4
3.6
Dribbles (completed)*
1.8
2.0
Tackles + interceptions*
1.0
1.6
Total Duels won*
4.6
4.6
He started fast last term but after bagging in both of Liverpool’s opening fixtures scored just one goal and assist apiece over the subsequent 18 matches.
His underlying numbers from last year are not too dissimilar to those of the opening weeks, but there’s little question that he is proving to be far more effective and deadly with his attacking involvements.
He’s not the only one enjoying an exciting resurgence. Ibrahima Konate has been immense in Liverpool’s backline this season, scoring at the San Siro in the Champions League last week and blending technique with titanic defensive resolve in the English top flight.
As per Sofascore, the France international has won 77% of his duels in the league across his five appearances, also completing 91% of his passes and placing a gorgeous assist for Diaz’s opening goal against Bournemouth last weekend.
He’s been a beast of a defender since signing for the Merseysiders from RB Leipzig when his £36m release clause was met in 2021. Still only 25 years old, Konate has completed 96 matches for the outfit but ebbed and flowed from form last term.
Indeed, he fell by the wayside as Liverpool’s carriage also toppled under Klopp in 2024, with The Athletic’s James Pearce commenting on his “dreadful” displays. He was one of the chief culprits as Crystal Palace defeated Liverpool at Anfield in April, which is what Pearce was commenting on.
Pundit Jamie Carragher hurled criticism at the talent toward the backend of last season too, saying: “Konate’s been so poor of late, really poor. Liverpool need to buy a centre-back in the summer.”
Liverpool, as we all know, didn’t buy a new centre-half in the summer but Konate is proving – so far – that he has what it takes to partner Virgil van Dijk with steel and authority throughout the duration of the campaign.
He’s had mixed luck on the injury front at Liverpool but Konate has been Hercules-esque across these opening couple of months and is an indispensable member of the starting line-up right now.
Both players are enjoying fine a resurgence and will be eager to pen lucrative new deals to reflect their importance at the heart of Slot’s project. After all, Kostas Tsimikas, for example, takes home a heftier pay packet.
Why Liverpool should get rid of Kostas Tsimikas
Liverpool signed Tsimikas from Greek side Olympiakos for a shrewd fee of about £12m in 2020, meaning that the left-back was recruited for the recently-crowned Premier League champions in an attempt to bolster the high-flying existing options.
He’s never quite established himself, though has played an important role throughout the later phase of Klopp’s tenure. Indeed, the 28-year-old has played 90 times for Liverpool and has assisted 17 goals, which stands at an average rate of 0.19 per match.
For reference, Trent Alexander-Arnold’s career assist rate for Liverpool is 0.26 per game, so Tsimikas knows a thing or two about playmaking, have no doubt.
As per FBref, he actually ranks among the top 2% of full-backs across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for assists, the top 6% for shot-creating actions, the top 7% for passes attempted and the top 9% for progressive passes per 90.
But it’s not all about assisting the forwards. He’s solid but unspectacular, and given that Andy Robertson is now 30 years old and Liverpool have been linked with a new left-back for some time, it would be much more wise to sell the Greece native and allow Robertson to compete with whoever is – possibly – brought in to strengthen Slot’s unit.
Tsimikas signed a new contract with Liverpool one year ago today that extends his service on Merseyside to 2027. It means that the second-choice left-back is now earning £75k per week, documented as more than the earnings of both Diaz and Konate.
Indeed, Konate, who has entered the penultimate year of his one and only signed deal with Liverpool, earns £70k per week, with the £55k-per-week Diaz also yet to extend the deal that saw him move from Porto in January 2022.
This is not a… concern for the Reds, but Liverpool need to rise to another level if they wish to keep pace with Manchester City and Arsenal at the summit of English football. Tsimikas is not unexpendable, with transfer insider Dean Jones revealing last October that Liverpool were assessing their options despite recently tying him down to new terms.
Described “woeful” by reporter James Dodd last season, perhaps it’s time for something new. With prominent stars like the aforementioned still earning less than Tsimikas, something needs to change.
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