Barcelona has been the strongest link regarding Luis Diaz’s transfer prospects this summer and now, it appears he has told the Catalan club what is required to sign him.
I’ll be the first to say that Diaz was treated rather unfairly this season and calls to have him sold are lazy.
We’ll start with his stats. The Colombian scored 17 goals and assisted eight for the Reds all while playing most of his games out of position.
Yet, he somehow managed to get more than the 13 goals and seven assists he managed while playing on the left-wing for Jurgen Klopp last season.
More impressive than that – he was a crucial member of the team that won the Premier League.
So calls to see him sold are confusing to me but that said, the player himself seems to be quite open to the idea of moving to Barcelona based on new claims emerging from Spain.
Luis Diaz has told Barcelona about Liverpool’s transfer demands
According to Spanish news outlet Sport, Diaz has told Barcelona that Liverpool have informed him that the can leave the club for a specific fee – which is “far from” the €80 million (£67.7m) fee that has been doing the rounds in the press.
What is unclear is whether that fee is higher or lower than the rumoured sum.
That said, Liverpool will not entertain the idea of “any discounts” which is most reinforced by the idea of the Reds demanding over £70m for Darwin Nunez. If the Uruguayan is worth that much – Diaz is worth closer to £100m.
“If the Blaugrana wants one of their regulars, they’ll have to pay,” the report says plainly.
And when you consider that Diaz is reportedly Barcelona’s “single, top, and agreed upon priority”, Liverpool should be confident of holding out for their full asking price.
Furthermore, Liverpool are reportedly not afraid to lose him for free in two years when his contract expires in 2027. This willingness to accept a loss will further strengthen their negotiating power as Barcelona will have to accept Liverpool’s demands or risk seeing them walk away from talks and hold onto Diaz even in light of his soon-to-expire contract.