Speculation linking Luis Diaz with a Liverpool exit is seemingly never far away, despite the Colombian currently coming off the back of his best season with the club.
Diaz tallied 17 goals and eight assists in all competitions, and as well as featuring in his usual left-wing role, he also proved a popular choice as a striker with Arne Slot. Still, though, talk of a move away remains, with Barcelona and Bayern Munich, as well as clubs in Saudi Arabia, said to be interested in Diaz.
A couple of years ago, Diaz's father said that the former Porto star "dreamed" of a move to Barcelona, and the Catalan club has made no secret of its admiration for him. Last month, Barca sporting director Deco name-checked Diaz as he addressed Barcelona's desire to sign a new winger during the summer transfer window.
"We like Luis Diaz, we like Rashford... and we like other wingers too," Deco said. "We can't talk about players under contract with other clubs."
Barcelona manager Flick addressed Deco's comments a few days later and gave a similarly deliberate response, insisting that he could not talk about players from other clubs... while naming players from other clubs who he wants to sign.
“This is what we have talked about with the club," Flick said. "In the last matches maybe we did not have a lot of options in that position [on the left wing]… so we have to bring more options to the team and more quality. This is the job from Deco, is clear, and I will support him.
“I don’t want to speak about players which are not in my team, but of course Luis Diaz and Marcus Rashford are fantastic players. I like them and we’ll see what happens.”
Manchester United outcast Rashford has decided that he wants to move abroad this summer, after Aston Villa confirmed his exit from the club that he spent the second half of last season on loan at.
Marcus Rashford could make his first start for Aston Villa against Liverpool
Rashford's loan spell at Aston Villa has ended (Image: Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
The England forward clearly has no future at United, and his dream would be to join Barcelona. Were he to do so, that would rule Diaz out of a move to Barcelona, and leave him in an interesting position regarding his future.
Despite being a key player in Slot's squad, Diaz's salary is significantly lower than a lot of his teammates, including the likes of Darwin Nunez, Federico Chiesa, and Diogo Jota.
Diaz is still on the same terms he signed when he joined Liverpool in 2022, and his contract expires in 2027. Speaking while away with Colombia on international duty in June, Diaz said he would be happy to see out his contract on Merseyside: "I'm very, very happy in Liverpool. From day one, they've made me feel really welcome.
"Right now we're in contact with them because we're speaking with [other] clubs. It's normal, the market is open, and we're trying to sort out what's best for us.
"I am just waiting to see what happens. If Liverpool doesn't make a good offer, I still have two years left with them, I would be happy and content to stay there. And that's it, everything depends on them obviously, it's up to me to decide what's best for us and the future."