Noted journalist Fabrizio Romano has discussed some of the details regarding Liverpool and their decision to sign Luis Diaz late in the transfer window.
Liverpool were relatively quiet in the January transfer window, with only one player brought in as Colombian winger Diaz arrived, although they certainly were linked with a number of players along the way.
Diaz had reportedly been grabbing the attention of other Premier League sides like Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur in the window, but it was Klopp’s men who were able to bag his signature in a move reported to be around £37m, which could potentially rise to £49m with add-ons.
Speaking on the latest edition of Rio Ferdinand presents FIVE, Romano revealed why Liverpool decided to go after him when they did, claiming that the Reds were not planning to buy anyone in the window, but that action from Tottenham forced them into signing the Colombian before the January window closed.
He said: “I’m told that the plan from Liverpool was to not sign any single player in January. So they wanted to continue with the current team they have.
“Then what happened for this boy, for Luis Diaz, the information I have is that they sent their scouts in 2021 five times to watch this boy closely, to have an impact on this boy to see how he was working face-to-face and they loved him, and in particular Jurgen Klopp, after Porto’s clash with Liverpool in the Champions League, said to the scouting team, ‘this boy is special’.
“So they were not planning to sign him in January, but in the summer. But they decided to anticipate this deal in January because they saw that Tottenham were going really big on him.”
TIF Thoughts on Fabrizio Romano’s comments about Luis Diaz and Liverpool…
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This comes across as a rather smart move for Liverpool to make, because it shows that whilst they appeared to have been looking to the future as Romano claims, it appears as though they also think that Diaz can make an impact straight away and weren’t willing to let another team – especially one that could be directly competing with them for silverware – grab him first.
It’s the level of ambition and aggression to get the deal done and them making sure nobody else got him that you have to respect.
And having put up some impressive numbers for Porto this season – 16 goals and six assists in 26 games – if Diaz can perform at that kind of level at Anfield, then they are onto a real winner with this one and he could really provide them with a boost both domestically and abroad between now and the end of the season.
In other news: ‘They have to do it’ – Former Klopp teammate begs Liverpool to move for ‘perfect’ playmaker