According to Fabrizio Romano, Liverpool winger Luis Diaz is unlikely to depart this summer as interested club Barcelona would not be able to fund a move.
Liverpool are set for a summer of huge change with Jurgen Klopp set to depart, while Michael Edwards makes a shock return to the club with Bournemouth sporting director Richard Hughes in tow.
Not only will the Liverpool boss be leaving Merseyside, his entire backroom staff will also need to be replaced when the season has ended, leaving Edwards, Hughes and FSG with a massive challenge on their hands to get their house in order before the new season commences in August.
The German coach’s shock departure is undoubtedly an immeasurable loss to the club, the city and the supporters, so finding the next manager to take the lead and continue the hard work that Klopp has built foundations for in the years ahead will be no easy task.
Not only that, the new manager will be confronted with a squad bursting at the seams with talent and will have several world-class players at his disposal when implementing his philosophy on the red side of Merseyside.
There is a lot of speculation surrounding the club at the moment, as the future hangs in the balance and uncertainty grows around the rapidly approaching departure of Klopp it also puts into question whether players will want to remain without their successful coach holding the reins.
One player who has been touted to follow his manager out of the door is Colombian winger Luis Diaz, with Barcelona reportedly keen to snap up the services of Liverpool’s left-wing magician in the summer.
However, Italian journalist and transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has now squashed rumours that the 27-year-old dynamo could be swapping Merseyside for the Spanish sunshine as the La Liga giants are unable to commit to the £50m fee it would take to secure Diaz’s services this summer.
In his Caught Offside column today, Romano revealed:
“Staying with Barcelona for a moment, we’ve also had fresh rumours about Luis Diaz reportedly wanting to join from Liverpool.”
“This is not what I’m hearing, though – Diaz is crucial player for Liverpool and also, for Barca to pay for a player like Diaz with their Financial Fair Play situation…I think that could be quite difficult,”
Should Liverpool sell Luis Diaz?
There is no doubt that Liverpool’s attacking presence hasn’t been cutting it of late and Diaz has come under fire on occasions as much as any other forward for not converting chances in important moments for the team.
The pacey winger had an explosive start to his time at Liverpool winning the FA Cup and Carabao Cup in his first six months at the club and quickly became a very popular player at the club.
Diaz has scored 24 goals and delivered 12 assists over 93 appearances so far and has often been the subject of high praise for his relentless work rate and ability to draw out defenders to become the ultimate threat on the wide flank.
Klopp has always had grand compliments for Diaz and has dubbed his winger “special” in the past:
“The speed he has is insane…”
“He gets our football 100 per cent. We thought we saw that at Porto. He fits like a glove to our football and that’s really really special.”
With that being said, it will be interesting to see if any further interest in Diaz presents itself over the summer and whether Liverpool will be willing to cash in on one of their stars at such a fragile time for the club’s future in competing for trophies.
