LONDON —
Colombian international winger
Luis Diaz signed for
Premier League side
Liverpool on Sunday from Portuguese side FC Porto, which will place further
doubt on the future of their Egyptian star Mohamed Salah.
اضافة اعلان
The 25-year-old Diaz signed a contract till
2027 for a reported fee of £37.5 million ($50 million), with a further £12.5
million in potential bonuses.
“I’m very happy to sign for Liverpool,” he
said on Sunday via the club’s official Twitter account.
There is no resolution in sight to protracted
talks over a contract extension for Salah, who is presently away at the
Africa Cup of Nations.
“Liverpool Football Club have completed the
signing of Luis Diaz from FC Porto, subject to the successful granting of a
work permit and international clearance,” Liverpool said in a statement on
their website.
“He joins Liverpool after two-and-a-half
seasons with FC Porto, where he made 125 appearances and scored 41 goals.”
Diaz was rumored to be Liverpool manager
Jurgen Klopp’s primary target for the summer transfer window, but growing
interest in the player, most notably from Tottenham Hotspur, forced the Reds to
move early.
He is presently on international duty with
Colombia for 2022 World Cup qualifying matches.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp expressed his
delight at the signing of Diaz.
“I could not be happier that we’ve been able
to get this deal done and bring Luis to Liverpool”, said Klopp.
“I have always been a believer in only signing
players in January if you would want to sign them in the summer, and that’s
very much the case with Luis.
“He is an outstanding player and someone we’ve
been tracking for a very long time.
“This team deserved to add quality and when we
played against Luis earlier this season (they were in the same
Champions League
group), we saw what a danger he is, how fast he is, and how his mentality was
to help his team.”
Liverpool sent a delegation to Argentina —
where Colombia play on Tuesday — to conduct a medical so the move could be
completed before the January transfer window closed.
Salah and Liverpool team-mates Sadio Mane and
Roberto Firmino will all be out of contract in the summer of 2023, by which
point they would all be aged 31.
Diaz would add fresh blood to the
Liverpool forward line and comes with a burgeoning reputation after scoring 16 goals in
28 games for Porto this season.
He was also top scorer alongside Lionel Messi at last
year’s Copa America with four goals.
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