![\"Luis](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_FC-Bayern-MA14nchen-Training-Session.jpg\")
(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\nLiverpool sold Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich for \u00a365m in July during a big summer of change that saw \u00a3116m Florian Wirtz arrive from Bayer Leverkusen(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Emile Heskey has claimed Liverpool will have no regrets over selling Luis Diaz but admits patience is needed before Florian Wirtz fully settles on Merseyside.<\/p>\n
Former Reds striker Heskey, who was a key part of the squad that lifted the UEFA Cup, League Cup<\/a> and FA Cup<\/a> in 2001, says the decision to offload Diaz to Bayern Munich in July for \u00a365m made sense from a business perspective.<\/p>\n Heskey thinks the call to move Colombia international Diaz on in the summer has afforded Cody Gakpo an opportunity that he has yet to grasp in the Liverpool<\/a> team this season after three successive defeats against Crystal Palace, Galatasaray and Chelsea.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Florian Wirtz strong ‘huge deal’ message sent as Liverpool position switch hinted at<\/a>READ MORE: I had one major FSG reservation but history has proven our \u00a3300m Liverpool deal correct<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI think Gakpo needs to come into his own,” Heskey told Pundit Arena<\/a>. “I think he’s got to show a little bit more, especially on that left wing. He needs to show a little bit more for me.<\/p>\n “I was hoping he could be the one that would be stepping into that void that Luis Diaz has left. I don\u2019t think they regret selling Diaz though, business is business.<\/p>\n \u201cNo matter how much a team spends on a player, they\u2019re still going to need a little period of bedding in and it might be longer for some than others. When you look at Luis Suarez, he hit the ground running.<\/p>\n “But not every player’s like that. Wirtz is needing that bedding in [period]<\/a>, especially with the price tag because that will be in his head as well.<\/p>\n “I don\u2019t think [Wirtz’s start] would have dented his confidence. Sometimes you\u2019ve got to take someone out of the firing line. You\u2019ve got to remember this and we talk about it all the time with this being the toughest league in the world and being the most relentless as well.<\/p>\n “So some players need to be taken out the firing line and taken out the firing line for their own good, because if you ask the player, they\u2019ll say, \u2018no, keep me playing\u2019. And it might not be right for them.<\/p>\n “So sometimes you take them out the firing line, give them a little freshen up, and then put them back in and slowly bring them back into the team. When you look at the intensity that he has to play at in this Liverpool side, I doubt he would\u2019ve had to play like that ever before.<\/p>\n “So he\u2019s got to get used to that and then as well, when you\u2019re talking about defensively, you\u2019ve got to say some of the Premier League<\/a> defences are the best in the world. So I think you\u2019ve just got to give the players like Wirtz time.”<\/p>\n