Liverpool aiming to beat Spurs in battle for Porto winger Luis Díaz : Today
Liverpool aiming to beat Spurs in battle for Porto winger Luis Díaz : Liverpool are trying to beat Tottenham to the signing of the Porto winger Luis Díaz and have made an initial offer of about £37.5m. Their bid includes easily achievable add-ons of about another £15m and a further £4m or so in bonuses less likely to be paid.
Díaz, a Colombia international with 31 caps, is one of the most exciting talents in Europe and has scored 14 goals in 18 league games this season. Porto rejected a £37.6m offer from Spurs this week for a player who has a £66m release clause.
On Thursday Tottenham suffered a transfer setback when Adama Traoré, one of Antonio Conte’s priority targets, agreed a move to Barcelona. It would be a further blow to their manager, who has repeatedly stressed the need for reinforcements, were Díaz to end up at Liverpool.
The 25-year-old Díaz has twice played against Liverpool this season in the Champions League and is with Colombia for their World Cup qualifiers at home to Peru on Friday and away to Argentina on Tuesday. Liverpool are sending medical staff to South America so they are ready to do a medical before Monday’s transfer deadline if they get the go-ahead.
With Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané turning 30 before the start of next season, Díaz is regarded by Liverpool as key to preparing for a future in which they will have to regenerate their forward line.
Liverpool have tracked Díaz for a long time and were preparing to move for him at the end of the season but Porto’s openness to selling this month, and competition from elsewhere, prompted them to accelerate their pursuit.
