Luis Díaz is close to leaving Liverpool for Bayern Munich. The Colombian forward has been a long-term target for the German champions and a second bid this summer, for a deal worth around £70m, has tempted England’s champions to sell.
Díaz was left out of Liverpool’s pre-season 4-2 defeat in Hong Kong against Milan with the Liverpool manager, Arne Slot, confirming that the absence was because of transfer speculation.
“In Lucho’s situation it was, yeah,” Slot said. “There are a lot of rumours around it lately and I cannot go into that. But he is training really well with us and we have decided, for now, not to play him yet.”
Díaz joined from Porto in January 2022 for £37.5m. The 28-year-old striker remains with the squad on their tour, which has taken Liverpool’s squad to Tokyo, where he continues to train. Slot is preparing his men for a meeting with Yokohama F Marinos on Wednesday.
Having this summer signed Florian Wirtz, a long-term Bayern target, and Hugo Ekitike last week – two of the biggest deals in club history – with continued links to Newcastle’s Alexander Isak, Liverpool seek to bring in some money with the sale of the popular Diaz. Darwin Núñez, also linked with a move, was also absent from the Milan game, though Slot said the Uruguayan forward was absent on fitness grounds.
In Hong Kong, Slot affirmed he was happy with his centre-backs, despite the sale of Jarell Quansah indicating a vacancy. The Crystal Palace captain, Marc Guéhi, is the name leading the speculation on that front.
Slot said: “I don’t think we have a concern at centre-back. In terms of depth? I think Ryan [Gravenberch] showed today, by the way, that he can play in that position. He did it last season as well. Although we all know we favour him as a No 6. Wata [Endo] can play there. Joe Gomez only has a minor injury.”
The new arrivals Jeremie Frimpong, left-back Milos Kerkez and goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili all played in the second half of the friendly on Saturday, with Wirtz making his first start.
