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3 days ago
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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.
Meanwhile, João Félix is departing Chelsea for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr for a deal that may eventually reach around £44m, with an initial £26.2m upfront. Felix joined Chelsea for a similar sum in August 2024 from Atletico Madrid, having previously been a Stamford Bridge loanee in the latter half of 2022-23. In January, he headed to Milan on loan following just three Premier League starts after that return.
The Portuguese forward, 25, who cost Atletico €127m back in 2019, has had an undistinguished spell in English football over those two spells, scoring five goals in 28 appearances, a spectator as Chelsea won the Conference League and the Club World Cup this summer. Chelsea’s signings of Liam Delap, João Pedro and Jamie Gittens have further closed down his chances of making Enzo Maresca’s side. At Al-Nassr, he will partner compatriot, Cristiano Ronaldo, with whom he shares an agent, Jorge Mendes.
The Everton manager, David Moyes, has confirmed a bid for Bayern Munich left-back, Adam Aznou, and declared his team need a significant number of signings for the club’s first season in a new stadium.
“We have made an offer, whether it’s accepted, or whether it’s all done,” said Moyes of Aznou, a 19-year-old former Barcelona trainee. “He’s a young player, he’s a young left-back.”
Moyes, speaking after his team lost 3-0 to Bournemouth in a pre-season friendly: “If I’m honest, we’ve actually tried to target the more senior players if we can, players who are maybe over the age of 25 with Premier League experience.”
In a Friday appearance on the Men In Blazers show, Moyes had said his squad required “nine or ten” and at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium clarified those words: “We’ve signed three so if you take them off, we’re probably in need of another five or six players possibly. That’s what we have to try and do.”
