Luis Diaz’s father has claimed Tottenham hesitated during negotiations, which paved the way for Liverpool to sign the Colombian swiftly in January.
There were plenty of transfer headlines late in January as clubs made their move after waiting nearly the entire month to identify the right players. Tottenham were in a similar position as they sat behind and watched which players might become available.
At first, their late move for Adama Traore fell apart after the winger chose Barcelona over Spurs, and then they suffered another setback. At one point, after lodging a bid for Luis Diaz, Tottenham looked close to signing the Colombian, only for Liverpool to steal him from under their noses late in the window.
Liverpool signed Diaz after agreeing on a deal with Porto, which was still below the release clause in the player’s contract. The way the move transpired infuriated chairman Daniel Levy, who also threatened action against executives of the Merseyside club.
Eventually, Spurs ended up signing Dejan Kulusevski on loan from Juventus, and there are still rumblings about the north London side being unhappy. Meanwhile, Diaz has already made his mark for Liverpool, assisting in his cameo appearance against Cardiff City in the FA Cup.
While there are still questions over why Tottenham failed with the move they were so close to completing, Diaz’s father has come out and revealed some details. In comments that appeared on the Liverpool Echo via Colombian Radio station Bluradio, his father, Luis Manuel Diaz, claimed Spurs ‘hesitated’ in negotiations, which allowed Liverpool to complete the transfer swiftly.
Luis Manuel Diaz said, “There were many suitors who wanted Luis’ services, but he had the dream of reaching Liverpool because Liverpool are an elite team. Tottenham was one. Roma was also left behind in the process. They hesitated a lot and let themselves be caught by Liverpool. Liverpool were faster than them, they needed him and they took him away.”
Liverpool will look to integrate Diaz into their first team, and fans could see their newest player in action against Leicester City on Thursday night.