"He will become increasingly important" - Fabinho names Liverpool star who can fill the void left by Sadio Mane

Liverpool midfielder Fabinho has claimed that forward Luis Diaz will assume a more important role in the upcoming season in the absence of former Reds attacker Sadio Mane.

Diaz, who arrived at Anfield from Porto for an initial £37 million in January, registered six goals and five assists in 26 matches for the Anfield outfit last season. Prior to that, he produced 22 goal contributions in 28 matches for Porto in the first half of the 2021-22 campaign.

Mane sealed a permanent move to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich in a deal worth up to £35.1 million last month. Speaking to The Athletic, Fabinho backed Diaz to shine following Mane's departure. He said:

"For a long time, it was always Sadio on the left side. But now, we have Luis [Diaz] on the left side and we saw how well he played in the second half of last season. Luis will become increasingly important."

A pacy dribbler with a knack for scoring long-rangers from outside of the box, Diaz is expected to be a first-team regular in the 2022-23 season. He will form a new-look Liverpool attack alongside new signing Darwin Nunez and superstar Mohamed Salah.

Speaking about Nunez, Fabinho said:

"Darwin may need a bit of time to adapt, let's see, but a player like him can really change a team. He's a proper number nine. He's a goalscorer. He scored in both games against us in the UEFA Champions League. We know how good he is."

He added:

"Even though we lost Sadio, I still believe that we can fight for everything. The team is still really strong."

After a 2-0 win against Crystal Palace, the Reds will end their pre-season with friendlies against RB Leipzig, RB Salzburg and Strasbourg. Liverpool will then take on Manchester City in the Community Shield at the King Power Stadium in Leicester on July 30.

Liverpool set to offload three defenders

According to GOAL, three Liverpool defenders — Ben Davies, Nathaniel Phillips and Rhys Williams — are on their way out of Anfield this summer.

Ben Davies, who joined from Preston North End in January 2021, is expected to depart without playing a single minute for the first team. Meanwhile, Phillips has suitors in the EFL Championship and Germany while Williams is expected to go on loan to an EFL Championship club.