Tottenham Hotspur were battling Barcelona alongside Liverpool to sign Luis Diaz in January
Tottenham Hotspur have been told that Barcelona were also in talks to sign Luis Diaz before the Colombia international joined Liverpool in January.
According to Barca president Joan Laporta, Barcelona wanted to sign Diaz but had other things to take care of, which helped the Reds finalise a move for the 25-year-old. He told AS (h/t Liverpool Echo):
“At that time we had just landed at the club and Liverpool beat us to it. We were considering his incorporation, but we were in an economic situation that we had to resolve and reverse.”
“Liverpool was ahead of us, but Luis Díaz is a great player and in that sense he belongs to Liverpool and I can’t talk about this anymore.”
“But I recognise that in the past when Luis Díaz went from Porto to Liverpool, we also had a conversation with the representative, but Liverpool was already moving forward.”
Would this news make Spurs fans feel a bit better about missing out on Diaz? Perhaps the task to sign him was tougher than it initially seemed.
The Reds were supposed to sign him in the summer, but fast-tracked their interest in January in order to beat us to his signature. Their assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders has confirmed this claim.
As enticing as manager Antonio Conte’s project may have seemed then and as much money as we may have put on the table for the Colombian, it is hard to imagine a South American star turning down a move to Barcelona.
Luka Modric and Gareth Bale leaving us for Real Madrid always serves as a reminder of the power the two La Liga giants hold in the minds of top footballers. Nevertheless, Spurs fans won’t have many regrets despite Diaz’s obvious brilliance.
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We signed Dejan Kulusevski from Juventus in the same window. The Sweden international has proven to be a revelation here and has made the right flank his own in recent months – although Richarlison’s arrival has increased the level of competition he faces for a spot in the starting XI.
