Jurgen Klopp has raved about Luis Diaz after seeing the £50 million ($68m) signing make his Premier League debut, insisting "he looks like a Liverpool player".
Liverpool spent big money to bring Diaz to Anfield from Porto in the January transfer window, tying him down to a five-and-a-half-year contract.
The 25-year-old made his debut off the bench in the Reds' 3-1 FA Cup fourth-round win over Cardiff City, and Klopp saw enough positives to hand him his first Premier League start against Leicester on Thursday night.
Klopp hails Diaz
With Sadio Mane having only just returned to England following his Afcon triumph with Senegal, Diaz was handed a spot on the left-hand side of Liverpool's attack in their latest Premier League outing.
The Colombian was a constant thorn in the Leicester defence as he exhibited impressive ball control while running at pace and decision making in the final third.
Diaz also had four shots at goal and was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet, with Diogo Jota ultimately proving to be the match-winner with a goal in each half.
Klopp was confident that Diaz would excite the Anfield crowd after seeing his skills close up in training, and feels he has all the attributes to add a new dimension to Liverpool's attack.
"That is exactly the impression he made in training so we thought let’s give it a try," the German head coach told a post-match press conference.
"When we saw him play for Porto we thought that is exactly what we want him to do as well. On top of that, he looks a really smart football player. He looks like a Liverpool player.
"The situation was made for it. Sadio came home last night and is probably still in bed. [Mohamed] Salah after four times 120 minutes it was clear he would not start."
What else did Klopp say?
Klopp took the decision to bench Salah following his exploits with Egypt at Afcon, but he came on in the 60th minute and made a big impression on the game.
Salah, who is currently leading the Golden Boot race with 16 goals to his name, hit the woodwork and forced Kasper Schmeichel into making a big save as he showed no sign of any jetlag upon his return to Premier League action.
Pressed on whether the 29-year-old might have had scored a hat-trick on another night, Klopp replied: "True. What a quality. The first, the counter was genius, defender slipped and the way KS is not a bad goalie so he made an incredible save.
"The crossbar or the axis of the goal incredible situation and the other one I forgot. That is just Mo. He had 35 minutes. Bringing Mo on gives a different dimension."
Liverpool moved back to within nine points of leaders Manchester City with a game in hand after beating Leicester, but Klopp insists he is not yet thinking about a potential title tilt.
"I am not sure we are in a position to put them on their toes," he said. "Even if we have no chance to catch them, we have to win our games. This football club is massive.
"It is always the same situation. There is a game we put on the shirts and we have to win it. Doesn’t work out all the time. There is not only Man City to catch, there is a lot of teams behind us who want to catch us."