Barcelona were long thought to be the next club for Luis Diaz but their loan acquisition of Marcus Rashford has ended speculation of the Liverpool star moving to Catalonia.
Diaz scored 17 goals and provided eight assists last season and was a key member of the 20th league-winning Liverpool side made all the more impressive as he was played out of position as a false nine.
Yet, due to his contract situation the player wants to leave. Liverpool don’t want to offer him an extension to his two-year deal and Diaz wants a pay increase that now seems will only be forthcoming should he transfer away from Anfield.
While he seemed destined for Barcelona – especially after years of flirting with the La Liga side – it now looks as though he will join Bayern Munich amid talk of an imminent second bid.
Liverpool have already rejected a £58m bid in an effort to wait for their £72m asking price to be met but Barcelona president Joan Laporta has now commented on why they decided to move on from their concrete interest in the Colombian international.
Why did Barcelona abandon Luis Diaz interest, according to Barcelona president Joan Laporta?
Barcelona’s search for a new left winger has been well publicised and Diaz is not the only player they were interested in with Nico Williams of Athletic Bilbao opting to sign a new deal instead of leave the Basque club.
“There were several options, and I’m very happy because we ended up getting the option I liked the most,” Laporta told Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo.
“It’s true that I also liked Luis Diaz, a very complete player, but due to his circumstances, with Liverpool very entrenched, it was complicated, although I appreciate the player who always wanted to come,” he added, on why a deal was not concluded for the Colombian international.
“The Nico Williams situation also happened. And given that Luis’ situation was complicated and that we were in the process of negotiating with Rashford, Nico’s agent came to me offering the possibility of signing him. Deco told me about it.”
Laporta continued: “In principle, I preferred to work on the other two options, but in these cases I always listen to the sporting director.
“He said we should at least listen because he’s an interesting player because he holds his own on the wing.
“Negotiations took place, but from what they told us to what it ended up being, there was a big difference in the payment terms, the agent’s commission, and a series of variables that already suggested the deal wouldn’t happen.
“Deco set a 48-hour deadline, and if they didn’t accept our terms, we wouldn’t do the deal. In the end, it didn’t happen. In parallel, work continued on the other two, and Rashford’s became clearer.”
