Joan Laporta has revealed Barcelona had a keen interest in signing Luis Diaz before Liverpool beat them to the transfer.
As relayed by eminent Journalist Fabrizio Romano, Joan Laporta insisted Barcelona wanted to rope in Luis Diaz. But due to their financial restraints, Liverpool went on to sign the player in January.
Liverpool paid an initial £37 million for the 25-year-old left winger which could further rise to £50 million with all the add-ons. The Colombian attacker took little time to adjust to the complications of the Premier League, and his performance allowed the likes of Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino to play a more natural game.
Diaz is currently sidelined with a knee injury but will likely travel with the team to Dubai next month where Liverpool are expected to take part in the Dubai Super Cup.
Barcelona signed Ferran Torres in the same winter transfer window and also brought in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Adama Traore and Dani Alves as they had a pretty eventful January.
Laporta believed their unstable financial condition prompted Liverpool to snatch the player under their watch.
“At that time, we had just arrived at the club but Liverpool beat us to it.
“There was a time when we were considering his incorporation but we still had an economic situation that we had to resolve, to reverse and they beat us to it.
“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.”
Liverpool have not really maintained their performance levels this season as a few losses have already left them behind in the title race. They are currently seven points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur but have played a match less than the North Londoners.
Diaz will be fit before the Premier League resumes in December and he could push the side to fill the void left by the departure of Sadio Mane this summer who joined Bayern Munich.
