Liverpool make late swoop for Luis Diaz

Liverpool have made a late move to sign Porto winger Luis Diaz. The 25-year-old has been in talks with Tottenham who were hoping to conclude a deal before Monday’s deadline, but the Reds are now close to hijacking the deal.

KOPTALK sources have maintained for some time that Diaz was wanted by Reds’ boss Jürgen Klopp, but until now, the whispers from Anfield were that the transfer fee and related package was “prohibitive” for the current transfer window. That line was being fed to a select few and it suggested that a summer move may be looked at instead. However, Tottenham went in hard and a move to London started to look imminent, but something changed at Anfield and a formal approach was made.

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Porto have been holding out for a fee in the region of £66.5million, but well-placed sources suggest that the asking price has been hammered down to around £50m (£37.5m with £12.5m in add-ons). Despite talks with Spurs, it is widely known that Diaz was desperate to link up with Klopp at Anfield and that the player had been disappointed no approach had been forthcoming, until now.

It is believed that Liverpool were originally only willing to pay around £30m for the highly-rated player, but with Spurs having helped negotiate the fee down for us, it would seem that a compromise is now very close, helped by the fact the player wants us.

KOPTALK sources report that transfer chief Michael Edwards was given the green light to proceed due to progress on potential outgoing deals that would help finance the move.

• Luis Diaz profile – Wikipedia
• Luis Diaz profile – Transfermarkt

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