Luis Diaz for the Ballon d'Or? Europe's signing of the season has the big-game pedigree to lead Bayern Munich to Champions League glory - and carry Colombia deep into the World Cup

In the 44th minute of Bayern Munich's Bundesliga clash with St. Pauli on November 29, Luis Diaz ended up prone in the penalty area. However, while the winger had lost his balance, he'd not lost control of the ball - and somehow managed to flick it up off the floor and into the path of Joshua Kimmich to score. It was an extraordinary piece of skill - but Bayern boss Vincent Kompany wasn't in the least bit surprised by it.

Just three weeks beforehand, in a 2-2 draw with Union Berlin, Diaz had miraculously managed to keep an overhit pass in play with what was effectively a sliding tackle before promptly picking himself up off the floor and then rifling home a stunning strike from a ridiculously acute angle. Consequently, Kompany had already come to expect the unexpected from the Colombian.

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"Lucho has got a kind of chaotic creativity," the big Belgian enthused. "He can always do something in chaos.

"As a defender, I always found it uncomfortable to play against such players because you never know whether you have the ball under control or he has it. He kept his head up while on the ground and played a great pass. He did the exact same move in training yesterday. It's just a quality of his."

Diaz's propensity for producing something out of nothing is also one of several reasons why a player Liverpool were willing to sell last summer is now a legitimate contender to win this year's Ballon d'Or.

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Bayern's bargain buy

During a recent discussion on TNT Sports about Liverpool's possible Mohamed Salah replacements, Steven Gerrard admitted that the first name on his list would be Michael Olise. But then the club legend made another admission, "You know what?" Gerrard said. "I wouldn't mind Diaz back as well!"

Unfortunately for Liverpool, they've even less chance of re-signing Diaz than they do agreeing a deal with Bayern Munich for Olise. As many people appear to have forgotten amid all of the revisionism around the Diaz deal in recent days, weeks and months, the left winger wanted out of Liverpool. The club hadn't come anywhere close to meeting his wage demands during talks over a contract extension (an undoubted error in hindsight) and that impasse, coupled with an unprecedented summer spending spree, made his exit inevitable as soon as Bayern offered to meet the Reds' asking price.

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As Arne Slot said right from the start, sacrifices were always going to have to be made, and Liverpool rather understandably considered €75 million (£66m/$88m) good money for a 28-year-old attacker. Of course, the problem for the Reds' recruitment team is that while none of their expensive signings have worked out as hoped (Alexander Isak is constantly injured, Florian Wirtz looks lost and Hugo Ekitike is facing an uncertain future due to a ruptured Achilles tendon), Diaz has proved a bargain buy for Bayern.

“Lucho brings a lot to the team," Kompany said after watching Diaz run rings around Atalanta in the last 16 of the Champions League. "He can dribble, create chances, finish and has a great mentality. You can only congratulate the club on signing such a player.”

'Perfect fit'

However, another overlooked aspect of Diaz's move to Munich is that he was by no means Bayern's No.1 transfer target. Bradley Barcola, Nico Williams and Rafael Leao were all ahead of him on the Bavarians' wishlist.

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After it became clear that all three were unobtainable, for one reason or another, Bayern turned their attention to Diaz and, such was their desperation to sign the winger they so desperately needed after releasing Leroy Sane and cashing in on Kingsley Coman, they were pretty much willing to do whatever was required to get the deal for Diaz over the line.

However, while the former Porto attacker’s fee and wages (€14m gross) raised eyebrows in Munich, Max Eberl insisted that Bayern knew what they were doing.

"We were convinced that Luis would be a perfect fit," the sporting director said, "and not only because of his goals and assists, but also because of his attitude and intensity." And it didn't take Diaz long to justify Bayern's sizable show of faith in his qualities.

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Leading by example

Kompany revealed that Diaz turned up for his first day of Bayern training in better shape, both physically and mentally, than any other player in a squad dealing with the effects of the Club World Cup. Diaz essentially hit the ground running, in every sense.

The versatile attacker scored on his debut, in a 2-1 win over Stuttgart in the Franz-Beckenbauer Supercup, before then netting in each of his first three Bundesliga games. However, what really impressed Bayern icon Philipp Lahm was Diaz's industry, with the new arrival almost immediately setting an example in terms of pressing that his team-mates felt compelled to follow.

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"What makes Diaz special is that he's also a worker," the former Germany international told AFP. "You have brilliant footballers in your ranks, which is always important. But you also have to work. That sets him apart in unbelievable fashion. He works in both directions: going forward but also defensively."

'Machine'

In truth, Kompany couldn't have hoped for a better addition to his attack. The coach had always said that he wanted to create "a team with the force of a hurricane: working together, connected, carrying each other, and having fun. You have to be hungry when you win, lose or draw, when the sun is shining, when it's raining or snowing."

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Diaz was the whirlwind he was awaiting, a destructive force on the field but a colourful character off it that Slot said he was going to miss terribly because he always turned up for training with a smile on his face no matter the weather.

"He has incredible energy," Kompany said after watching Diaz hit a hat-trick and win two penalties in a 5-1 rout of Hoffenheim in February. "There are tough moments at times, but he brings exactly the same intensity to training on Mondays. That’s helped us tremendously this season. Lucho is a machine."

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Big-game player

That Diaz has already scored more league goals this season than at any previous point in his career is perhaps unsurprising. He is, after all, playing for the dominant force in German football.

However, Diaz has undoubtedly taken his game to a whole other level since arriving in Munich, as underlined by his sensational showings in the Champions League (seven goals in his past nine outings). Indeed, one could easily argue that is the biggest threat to Paris Saint-Germain's hopes of retaining their continental crown going into Wednesday's eagerly-awaited semi-final second leg at the Allianz Arena.

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After breaking Real Madrid's resistance in the last eight, Diaz will be confident of delivering another decisive display against PSG, having already scored three times against Luis Enrique's men in this season's competition. His strike in last week's nine-goal thriller at Parc des Princes wasn't just a thing of beauty, it also left the tie beautifully poised and spectacularly hammered home the fact that Diaz is a very much a big-game player.

Golden Ball contender

So, for all of the hard-earned and well-deserved Ballon d'Or buzz surrounding Harry Kane and Michael Olise, Diaz could easily emerge as Bayern's leading candidate if they were to go on and win the Champions League, having developed quite the habit for producing a piece of individual brilliance when it's been needed most.

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Granted, both Kane and Olise are likely to go further at this summer's World Cup, with their respective nations, England and France, among the favourites to lift the trophy. However, Colombia are almost certain to come out of a group containing Uzbekistan and DR Congo, and will be quietly confident of pipping Portugal to top spot - not least because they're going to be backed by a massive following in both the United States and Mexico.

Diaz is also his country's talisman - only Lionel Messi scored more goals in CONMEBOL qualifying - and while Los Cafeteros might not get beyond the quarter-finals, it would hardly be a shock if the 29-year-old replicated the kind of magical campaign with which compatriot James Rodriguez wowed the world at Brazil 2014. The conditions should certainly suit him and, right now, Diaz is in the form of his life.

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Obviously, when it comes to the Ballon d'Or, the odds are definitely against him. The prize will likely go to a World Cup winner, but Diaz certainly can't be discounted. He's already proven himself one of the signings of the season and, as Kompany has discovered to his immense joy, producing the unexpected is just one of the Colombian's many qualities.

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