Liverpool’s chess game to sign Luis Díaz

Luis Díaz (Barrancas, Colombia, 1997) exploded in the last Copa Américawhen he stepped forward. He took advantage of that tailwind to become, in this first round, the most surprising player in the Portuguese league: 14 goals and five assists in just 18 games. Some numbers so serious that they have caused the Colombian winger exchange Porto for Liverpool at a rate of 45 million euros plus 15 in variables (his clause was 80), an operation that, dissected, demonstrates the rigor of the network club in its signings.

It all started, obviously, much earlier. Three seasons ago, Díaz was already on the English club’s lists as a footballer to keep in mind.. He came to Porto on the rebound from Barranquilla and has lived in Portugal for two years of adaptation where his level was not yet optimal for a competition as peculiar and competitive as the Premier: 59 games and 12 goals. But everything changed this summer, when the winger went on to be on the list of priorities of the sports management headed by Julian Ward.

Two months ago, the contacts started led by Kiko Espinar, the Catalan scouter in Spain and Portugal, with his representatives (Colombian Carlos van Strahalen and Portuguese lawyer Raúl Pais). With the approval of Jurgen Kloop, aware of the qualities of a striker who adapts to his attack, the priority of the red team was to hire Díaz for the summer of 2022, taking into account that probably some players from his attack who will end their contract this summer or next they could leave the club (currently the offensive zone is made up of Sadio Mané, Takumi Minamino, Diogo Jota, Roberto Firmino, Divock Origi and their great star Mohamed Salah).

But everything has been precipitated due to the vicissitudes of the market. The agents are convinced that due to the game model, Díaz is an ideal footballer for Liverpool, Tottenham launched this January with an offer close to 45 million. Porto needed liquidity to avoid a sanction before February 1 (Liverpool was aware of these problems), the operation could opt for the London club, but Liverpool, after obtaining the approval of the owners, matched the offer . Díaz preferred to be with Kloop, having managed to retain the player’s agents through Espinar’s work. And the operation was triggered in only 48 hours, the tip of the iceberg of a job that began months before and that, taking advantage of a market opportunity, He has taken the player for just 45 million to Liverpool.

It is curiously, and according to the Transfermarkt portal, the same scales of the forwards of the Liverpool sports structure. Mané (41), Salah (42), Firmino (41) and Diogo Jota (44.7) did not reach a fixed 45 million and currently between the four they have a market value of 278 million, something more than 100 million more than what was spent, something that can happen with a Luis Díaz who in Portugal was seen as just as superior as Bruno Fernandes or Joao Félix in recent years.