By now, most Liverpool fans are aware of the speculation that seems to surround Luis Diaz and Barcelona – and seemingly through no fault of his own.
Already this week, we had bizarre claims that Manchester City had agreed a deal for the Colombian.
Those claims were quickly refuted however but added yet another transfer story about the 27-year-old leaving Anfield.
Diaz, who joined Liverpool from Porto in January 2022 for an initial fee of £37 million, has established himself as a key player for the Reds.
His explosive pace, creativity, and trickery are amongst the best in the world, and his work rate off the ball has endeared him to Liverpool fans.
However, there have been some frustrations over his final product and finishing, with the Colombian managing 13 goals and 5 assists in 51 appearances across all competitions in 2023/24.
Luis Diaz passes the eye test quite comfortably, and at many points last season looked like Liverpool’s brightest attacker.
But eight goals in 32 Premier league appearances across 2023/24 does not make for the best reading unfortunately.
This is likely contributing to some of the speculation around his name – even though Diaz himself has maintained that he is happy at Liverpool.
Now, some alarming news has emerged from Spain overnight.
Luis Diaz is Deco’s ‘top priority’ at Barcelona
Journalist Pipe Sierra, who has been touted as a reliable source with Colombian connections, has reported the latest on Luis Diaz.
He raises interesting points that the contract extension of Luis Diaz is not a priority at this moment in time.
Speaking on Sin Boleta, Sierra said of Diaz and Barcelona:
“Look, Lucho’s situation is particular for two reasons. One, renewal for Liverpool is not a priority.”
“There are dialogues, but it is a priority to renew with other players before Lucho Díaz.”
“For example, Van Dijk is one of the options.”
“And if you ask me, from what I have investigated, that €75 million, which perhaps Lucho was worth at some point, today would no longer €75m, but rather €60 from what we know.”
🎟️¿Qué pasa con Luis Díaz y su fichaje al Barcelona? Ojito a todos los detalles que entrega, @PSierraR 👀🔥#SinBoleta
🚨 En vivo, aquí: https://t.co/7HzbDmOnaA pic.twitter.com/wZ4Y10XqPP
— SinBoleta 🎟 (@SinBoleta_) August 14, 2024
“Something important in Barcelona is happening and that it is financial engineering that the team is doing to sign a winger.”
“Not necessarily that of Lucho Díaz, which today is Deco’s priority.”
“But to finalize that signing they are doing a process… financial engineering to reach the figures that Liverpool are trying to get for Lucho Díaz.”
“If it is 60 million euros, which is a very important figure, it would be 10 million more than what was paid at the time to Porto, I don’t think Liverpool are going to refrain from letting him go.”
Furthermore, the journalist claims that Luis Diaz has always wanted to play for Barcelona:
“Lucho has always wanted to play for Barcelona, his father has said so on a lot of occasions, but Barcelona has been trying for a long time and today that possibility opens up much more.”
“The issue of Paris Saint Germain is frozen, there is nothing, things were talked about four months ago, but today it is not a reality and as I see the matter of Lucho Díaz, I do believe that if Barça manage to make that offer [Liverpool will accept].”
“Lucho Díaz’s salary, according to what I am told, is that it is not so high in the world of football, but for Barcelona it would be easy to triple Lucho Díaz’s salary.”
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