Wow I could not have timed the start of this discussion better 😛😂

My only worry with keeping Darwin for another year is his market valuation would suffer more.

His strengths are minimized and weaknesses highlighted in the system we play.

It's why he's currently valued around £35-45 million when last summer it was probably 50+

I would argue both jota and Nunez would devalue significantly if we kept them around this season.

Nunez we've already discussed but jota has some excellent underlying numbers this year (mostly due to how well he played at the start).

What timing 😂😂 what a brilliant move letting everyone know they have to sell him. Unbelievable foresight.

Then I started seeing the things you've pointed out. Winning less duels, giving away more fouls as he gets dribbled at, players beating him to the back post to finish chances. It became obvious and I was not surprised to see the comparison below. Mind you this is compared to 2023/24.

Just to make sure I'm not making this up I checked and I think this makes sense. These are open play shots by both over their two most productive seasons. Approx 140 shots for each. Divided by goals and missed/blocked/saved. Both attempt shots from that left half of the box Diaz scores less.

For context. Taken from the transfer flow podcast newsletter on the Liverpool rebuild.