Barcelona reveal the Liverpool ace they nearly signed
Karan Tejwani
- 16 Nov 2022 13:40 GMT
- 3 min read
Barcelona President Joan Laporta has revealed he was close to signing Liverpool’s Colombian star Luis Diaz but were unable to do so due to their financial condition.
Diaz has starred for Liverpool in recent times having signed for them earlier this year and has become one of their most important attacking players.
At the time, Diaz was shining in Portugal for Porto and has had a quick rise in that time, attracting interest from Europe’s top clubs, including Barcelona.
READ: Barcelona cannot afford to make January transfers, Laporta admits
Now, Laporta has revealed why Barcelona weren’t able to get a deal over the line to bring the Colombian winger over the Camp Nou.
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Laporta reveals Diaz interest
Speaking at an event in Colombia, Laporta revealed Barcelona’s interest in the player and how he wanted to sign him soon after returning as President early in 2021.
"At that time, we had just landed at the club but Liverpool beat us to it. There was a time when we were considering their incorporation but we still had an economic situation that we had to resolve, to reverse and they beat us to it".
READ: Barcelona already planning to offload Kessie
"He's a great player and he belongs to Liverpool and I won't talk about this anymore but yes, I admit it, in the past, when he went from Porto to Liverpool, we had a conversation with his representative but Liverpool already had it very advanced," the President said.
Diaz ended up staying at Porto through the summer before a move to Liverpool was completed earlier this year and he has done well since.
💪 #DaBancada Que nota para este golo do @LuisFDiaz19? 🧐⚽️#FCPorto #FCPVSC pic.twitter.com/aSc2GAZkJw
— FC Porto (@FCPorto) November 29, 2021
Diaz is set to miss the World Cup as Colombia failed to qualify and the winger himself is recovering from an injury which has kept him out of action for a while.
His acclimatization to life at Anfield was quick, though, as he hit the ground running immediately and helped in Liverpool’s bid for a quadruple last season.
