Luis Diaz vs Khvicha Kvaratskhelia: Who is the best left winger in world football – with Vinicius Junior also in the frame alongside Bayern Munich & PSG superstars?

Diaz saw his stock soar after swapping life at Porto for that with Liverpool in January 2022. He savoured Premier League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup triumphs at Anfield – finding the target on 17 occasions through his final season on Merseyside. His debut campaign at Bundesliga title winners Bayern saw his personal-best bar on the goal front raised to 26.

The talented Colombian is considered to be performing at the peak of his powers, but is he the most fearsome and productive left winger on the planet? A mercurial Georgian that has helped PSG to back-to-back Champions League coronations would have something to say about that.

Hamann admits as much, with the ex-Bayern midfielder telling GOAL – while speaking courtesy of Betinia NJ – when asked if Diaz sits at the top of his specific positional pile? “I think Kvaratskhelia is the best and I think he’s a runner, should be a runner for the Ballon d’Or.

“I think he was the best player last season. He wasn’t at the World Cup, obviously, with Georgia. It’s a small country. It’s not really his fault that it didn’t happen. But I think, apart from Kvaratskhelia, Luis Diaz was probably the best.

“Obviously, I can only judge what happened last season. If you look at other players, Vini? Vini, obviously, there’s a lot of split opinions about him. I think he’s a fantastic player. I don’t like some of the antics and everything he does.

“But I’ve got to say, last season, I would go probably Kvaratskhelia, Diaz, Vini Junior. He was certainly the second-best left winger last season because he was absolutely outstanding. Played the World Cup, didn’t have too much rest, so we need to see how it’s going this season. But last year was brilliant.”